Michigan State shoots 5-under surges into the lead on Day 2 of Folds of Honor Collegiate
Sitting outside the Top 10 after the opening round of The Folds of Honor Collegiate, tournament co-host Michigan State shot a team total 5-under on Tuesday at the 7,086-yard Par-71 American Dunes Golf Club to take a three-stroke lead into the championship round of the 54-hole event which concludes Wednesday.
Michigan State enters the championship round at 2-over par after a two-day total of 570. The Spartans shot an 18-hole total 279 in Tuesday’s round. The only program finish under par collectively on Day 2, Michigan State’s teams score at The Folds of Honor Collegiate was eight strokes better than the second lowest team total belonging to Arkansas on Tuesday. With four players carding rounds of even par or lower for Michigan State on Tuesday, the Spartans improved upon their opening round team score by 12 strokes.
Michigan State sits in first place followed by Arizona and South Carolina in second place at 5-over. Arkansas (+6) and Notre Dame (+10) round out the Top 5, followed by Florida State (+12), Memphis (+15), NC State (+16), Kentucky (+17), and Indiana (+22).
Grand Valley State, the lone D2 program at the Folds of Honor Collegiate, is sitting in 13th place (+33). Air Force Academy (+41) is the top performer among the three service academies represented at the tournament.
Canadian Amateur champion Ashton McCulloch and Michigan Amateur Champion August Meekhof led the way for Michigan State, each shooting 2-under in Tuesday’s round. McCulloch and Meekhof each carded four birdies apiece on Tuesday.
Meekhof (-1), McCulloch (E), and graduate senior Drew Hackett (+1) are in the Top 10 of the medal play competition entering the championship round. Meekhof moved up 16 spots on the leaderboard with his performance on Tuesday. He is in a three-way way tie for fourth with Alex Goff (Kentucky) and Flip Jacubcik (Arizona). McCulloch moved up 25 spots on Tuesday and into a seventh-place tie with John Driscoll (Arkansas).
Meekhof, McCulloch, and Hackett are chasing Nick Mathews (North Carolina State), who takes a three -stroke lead over Zach Adams (South Carolina) and Cecil Belisle (Kansas) into the championship round after carding a 1-under 70 to move to 5-under for the tournament.
McCulloch birdied three holes on the back nine, including the 538-yard Par-5 18th to move to 3-under for the tournament. McCulloch dropped to 2-under with a bogey on the 417-yard Par-4 8th hole. Meekhof carded four birdies on a blemish-free back nine. He moved to 4-under with a birdie on 18 before giving two shots back on the front nine to settle at 2-under.
Graduate senior Drew Hackett, who led Michigan State in scoring average last season, carded a 1-under 70 with a round that included three birdies and no miscues except for a double bogey at the 503-yard Par four 16th. Hackett, who has carded the most pars through two rounds in the entire field, sits in ninth place in medal play going into Wednesday’s round.
Michigan State began Tuesday’s round at 7-over after carding a team total of 290 in the opening round. Meekhof, McCulloch, and Hackett spearheaded the Michigan State surge on the back nine to open play on Tuesday. Hackett’s double bogey at the 17th was the only blemish on the back nine for that trio.
Bradley Smithson, by contrast, struggled for much of the back nine, bogeying three straight holes at one point before carding an eagle at the 18TH to get back make the turn at 2-over for the day. Smithson’s birdie at 18 created momentum that carried over to the front nine, where he recorded two birdies to finish even-par for the day.
Wednesday’s championship round will be television on the Golf Channel from 4-7 p.m.
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