TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Charleston Southern played its back nine at even par but couldn't make up any ground on the field in the second round of the Tuscaloosa Regional, played Tuesday at Ol' Colony Golf Club.
The Buccaneers were 22-over on the opening nine, but spent the afternoon part of their round making up ground on the bottom half of the 13-team field. Sophomore Jake Ezell shot a 3-over 75 for the Bucs' low round of the day and had CSU's lone highlight in the morning, holing out for eagle on the par-4 11th.
"Another rough start for us," CSU Director of Golf Mike Wilson said. We finished much better today to give us some momentum for tomorrow. If we can solve our first few holes tomorrow, I think we'll make a move up the leaderboard."
CSU slipped one spot to 13th on the day, but is still within striking distance of the Top 10. The Bucs trail Southern Illinois by three strokes and Harvard by four shots.
Georgia (-10) and South Carolina (-7) are well on their way to qualifying for one of the five spots in the NCAA Championships next weekend. Kentucky (-1) is third, followed by Alabama (E) and Auburn (+8). Auburn holds a nine-shot lead over Charleston and UNLV (+17) for the final qualifying spot.
The Bucs had Ezell's eagle and a birdie by Austin James as their bright spots on the front, but combined for six birdies to look more like the team that earned an at-large berth on the back.
Ezell played his final nine at 1-under with birdies on No. 6 and No. 9.
James steadied himself after a sloppy start. He double bogeyed his first two holes, but was only 1-over over his final 14 holes in his round of 79 (+7).
Sophomore R.J. Keur played his final seven holes at 1-under to piece together a 76 (+4).
Senior Nico Baena was 1-over on his final nine with a birdie in his round of 80 (+8). Senior Taylor Zoller put together an 82 (+10).
The Bucs tee times begin at 9:20 a.m. off of hole No. 10.
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