MOC duo completes second-round NCAA play

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on May 4, 2005 2:01 PM

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COLUMBUS, Ga. - Mount Olive College golfer Eric Royster is tied for 52nd out of 90 golfers and Mikael Moberg is tied for 66th after second round play at the Atlantic/Southeast Super Regional of the 2005 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship Tuesday at Bull Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ga.

Royster, a senior from Youngsville, overcame a double bogey on the third hole to shoot even par over the next nine holes, sinking a birdie on the 11th hole to lower his score to two-over-par for the day and nine over for the tournament. But he ran into trouble finishing up the back nine, shooting a double bogey on the 15th hole and finishing the day with a quadruple bogey on the par-4 18th hole. Royster shot an 81 Tuesday and is at 160 after 36 holes.

Moberg, a freshman from Gaule, Sweden, went on a roller coaster ride during the front nine with two birdies, one par, five bogeys and a double bogey to go in with a 41. Moberg began the back nine with par-birdie-bar, but followed with a bogey and back-to-back double bogeys to finish the back nine with a matching 41. Moberg shot an 82 Tuesday to give him a 162 after two rounds.

Among the 45 Atlantic Region golfers, Royster is tied for 24th and Moberg is tied for 33rd.

USC-Aiken golfer Scott Brown is the overall leader at 143, one stoke ahead of teammate and first round leader Dane Burkart and Armstrong Atlantic State golfer Jonathan Cox.

In the team competition, first round leader Belmont Abbey widened its lead to seven strokes over Queens and Barton with a two-round total of 607 to remain atop the first-round leaderboard among the eight Atlantic Region teams. Defending national champion USC-Aiken remains in first place among the Southeast Region teams with a 590, but second place Armstrong Atlantic State trimmed USC-Aiken's five-stroke first round lead down to two.

The top Atlantic Region finisher and the top Southeast Region finisher advance to the national finals, along with three at-large teams, regardless of region.

In addition, the top individual not with a team that advances to nationals will also earn a berth in the national finals.

Royster and Moberg are the first Mount Olive golfers to earn bids to the NCAA Division II regional since 2002.

The 54-hole tournament concludes today with the third round.