Huntingdon men’s golf climbs to fourth after second round of D3 Preview tournament

HOWEY IN THE HILLS, Fla. – The Huntingdon men's golf team made a strong push Monday in the second round of the Gordin Classic NCAA D3 National Championship Preview at Mission Inn Resort & Club.

The Hawks shot the third best round of the day to climb back into the hunt for the tournament title. Huntingdon was in third on Sunday before a disqualification for signing an inaccurate scorecard dropped the Hawks to 12th.

Entering the final round of the tournament on Tuesday, Huntingdon is nine strokes out of first and is in fourth place with a two-round total of 600. Christopher Newport leads the team standings at 591. Methodist University is second at 596 and Oglethorpe University is third at 597.

All five Huntingdon golfers shot 78 or better on Monday. Freshman Steven Smith shot a 1-under-par 71 to lead the Hawks. Smith is three strokes out of first and is tied for fifth with a 1-over 145 after 36-holes. Guilford's Noah Ratner leads the field with a 2-under 142.

Huntingdon junior Sam Strachan is six strokes out of first and tied for 10th with a 4-over 148. Freshman Thomas Mitchell is 11 strokes back and tied for 27th at 153. Sophomore Griffin Just is tied for 70th at 160.

Sophomore Jamey Lester, who was disqualified from the first round because of the scorecard error, shot the second best round for the Hawks on Monday with an even-par 72.

Huntingdon individual results

T5: Steven Smith: 74-71-- 145

T10: Sam Strachan: 72-76-- 148

T27: Thomas Mitchell: 77-76 -- 153

T70: Griffin Just: 82-78-- 160

DQ: Jamey Lester: DQ-72

Team standings

1) Christopher Newport: 297-294 -- 591

2) Methodist University: 292-304 -- 596

3) Oglethorpe University: 304-293 -- 597

4) Huntingdon College: 305-295 -- 600

5) Guilford College: 303-298 -- 601

6) Illinois Wesleyan: 295-310 -- 605

T7) St. John's University: 301-310 -- 611

T7) Transylvania University: 299-312 -- 611

9) Centre College: 304-309 -- 613

10) Greensboro College: 299-316 – 615

T11) Wittenberg University: 305-316 -- 621

T11) Millikin University: 315-306 -- 621

T13) Emory University: 303-320 -- 623

T13) Bridgewater College: 314-309 – 623

15) Ohio Wesleyan University: 311-315 -- 626

16) Gustavus Adolphus: 301-328 -- 629

17) Texas Lutheran University: 315-316 -- 631

18) Wisconsin-Eau Claire: 318-314 -- 632