Mount Olive remains seventh after two rounds

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 9, 2007 2:27 PM

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POOLER, Ga. -- Mount Olive moved into sole possession of seventh place among the Atlantic Region teams, while Jonathan Greene fired the Trojans' lowest round of the tournament during the NCAA Division II Atlantic/Southeast Super Regional golf tournament Tuesday afternoon.

Woodard is tied for 12th overall out of 45 golfers. Greene's team-best 78 catapulted him eight places to 15th overall after two days of competition on the challenging Savannah Quarters Country Club layout.

Battling gusty winds for the second straight day, Mount Olive carded a four-player total of 322 -- 21 strokes lower than Monday's opening round. The Trojans tied for the fifth-lowest score of the second round.

Mount Olive's two-round score of 665 is nine strokes better than eighth-place Limestone (S.C.) University and just five strokes behind reigning Atlantic Regional champion Coker (S.C.) College.

Belmont Abbey is the leader at 631.

"The guys did a good job adjusting to the winds today," said Trojan head coach Chip Spiron, referring to wind gusts of more than 30 miles per hour. "They've played it in for two days in a row, so they've gotten used to it."

Along with getting used to the winds, Greene says another factor Tuesday was more favorable pin placements on the 7,066-yard course, designed by Greg Norman.

"The course played a lot easier today," said Greene, a sophomore from Goldsboro and graduate of Wayne Christian School. "The pin placement was better today. They were more in the center of the green instead of all on the edge of the green.

"I've played in this kind of wind before, but not on a course as tough as this one. The greens here are pretty firm."

After starting on the 10th hole Monday, Mount Olive and the other seven Atlantic Region teams opened play Tuesday on the front nine, while the Southeast Region teams began on the back nine. The two regions reversed starts for today's final round.

"I think that made a difference today," said Spiron. "The front nine isn't as difficult as the back nine, so the guys were able to gain some confidence early on."

Greene's birdie on the ninth hole gave him a 39 on the front nine and he matched that with a 39 on the back nine, giving him a 36-hole score of 85-78--163. Greene tied for the ninth-lowest round of the day.

Woodard matched his first round score to record a 36-hole total of 81-81--162. While Monday's round included four birdies and five double bogeys, Tuesday's round was more consistent with one birdie, eight pars and only one double bogey.

Johan Hagsund played the first seven holes of the back nine at even par and is in a tie for 27th with an 85-84--169. Hagsund was one of only three Atlantic Region players to birdie the par-4 16th hole Tuesday.

Mick Moberg overcame a tough first round to shoot in the 70's Tuesday, landing in a tie for 34th with a 92-79--171. Moberg played the final 13 holes at only 2-over-par.

Chris Bitzenhofer is in 45th place with a 94-89--183. Bitzenhofer had one birdie and one par on the back nine.