The No. 2 ranked Emory men's golf team traveled east to Savannah, Georgia to play in its first competition of the spring season at the Savannah Invitational. The event was played at The Club at Savannah Harbor's Par 72, 6851-yard course. Heavy fog early Monday morning prevented the event from starting on schedule, which forced the second round of play to be suspended due to darkness.
However, the Eagles didn't let the delay deter them as they find themselves in sole possession of first place with a score of 489 (-15) through 31 holes. Their score on day one gives them a four-stroke lead over second-place Washington & Lee and Methodist. Emory also has several golfers within striking distance of the individual title, with four inside of the top-20 of the individual leaderboard.
As a team, Emory is dominating the Par 5s, recording a cumulative score of -10 on these holes, tied for the best at the event. Emory also knocked in two eagles as well as 36 birdies, both good for the second most of any team at the tournament.
Senior Jackson Klutznick was Emory's top performer of the day, carding a 70 (-2) in the opening round and finds himself at four under par through 13 holes of his second round. The senior's day one total comes to 120 (-6) to find himself tied for second on the individual leaderboard, just one stroke off the leader. Klutznick had a bumpy start to his day, though, bogeying four of his first eight holes. Yet, he dialed in on the back nine, knocking in four birdies to keep himself in contention. He found consistency in round two, tallying seven pars, five birdies and just one bogey to start his round. Klutznick leads all players on the Par 4s, shooting a tournament best five under par on such holes. He'll look to carry over the momentum from Monday into the tail-end of the tournament on Tuesday.
Close behind Klutznick was sophomore Brian Hanson. Hanson competed in the Eagles' win at the Gate City Invitational last fall and was back in the starting lineup on Monday in Savannah. The sophomore had a strong showing, turning in a score of 70 (-2) in the first round before finding himself at two under par through 13 holes of his second round. Similar to Klutznick, it wasn't an easy start for Hanson as he picked up a bogey and a double bogey before heading to the back nine. However, five birdies on the final 10 holes salvaged his first-round score. Hanson's success on the course's back nine continued into his second round, stringing together three straight birdies from holes 10 to 12 in his second round. Hanson heads into the final day of the tournament at 122 (-4) and tied for eighth place just three strokes off the individual lead.
Junior Michael Burry is right in the thick of things as well, as he finds himself tied for 11th heading into Tuesday. Burry recorded an eagle while carding a 73 (+1) in the first round before shooting four under par in the start to his second round. Burry was fairly steady in his first round, tallying 13 pars. He has dominated so far in his second round, though, climbing 29 spots on the individual leaderboard with five birdies and just one bogey through 13 holes. His day one total comes to 123 (-3) and is just four strokes off the lead with momentum on his side.
Junior Tony Li also finds himself in the top-20, stringing together a 124 (-2) score through 31 holes. Li had an impressive opening round, with five birdies and four bogeys to card a 71 (-1). Despite recording a double bogey on hole six, Li has reigned in his score in the second round with a birdy and an eagle to find himself one under par after 13 holes. Li is tied for 15th place heading into the final day.
Junior Josh Qian rounds out the scores for Emory, as he turned in a score of 76 (+4) in the opening round while sitting at four over par to start his second round. His total score heading into the final 23 holes is 134 (+8).
Emory will resume play in Savannah tomorrow, finishing up round two with the third and final round starting after all teams have wrapped up their second round. The Eagles will tee-off with a shotgun start at 8:10 AM tomorrow morning.