Flames in 11th Place at Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
4/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Flames are in 11th place following 18 holes of competition at the 2016 Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, Liberty's final regular-season event of the year.
The event, which was shortened to 36 holes due to weather concerns, experienced additional delays on Saturday due to blustery winds and snow showers.
The 16-team field finally took to The Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlett Course (par 71, 7,455 yards) around 1:30 p.m. for today's first round action.
Following Saturday's first round, Liberty finds itself in the middle of a group of 10 teams that are separated by 11 strokes. The Flames fired a 23-over par 307 and will enter tomorrow's final round in 11th place.
No. 29 Penn State and No. 46 Kent State lead the 10-team grouping following a 15-over par 299 and are tied for fifth place. The pair of teams are followed by Maryland's 16-over par 300 and Michigan's 18-over par 302.
No. 31 UNLV leads the overall event following a 5-over par 289, which is two strokes ahead of tournament host Ohio State. The Buckeyes carded a 7-over par 291 on their home course.
No. 37 UAB and No. 49 Michigan State round out the upper half of the leaderboard, as they are tied for third place following a 9-over par 293.
Two players in the 84-man field are currently in red figures, as UNLV's Shintaro Ban and UAB's Taylor Eyster share the clubhouse lead following a 1-under par 70 on Saturday. Ohio State's Tee-k Kelly is in third place after an even par round of 71.
Liberty's Mickey DeMorat is only two shots off the overall pace. The sophomore is one of five golfers currently tied for fourth place after a 1-over par 72.
DeMorat overcame a bogey-bogey start to the day to record three birdies and a double bogey during his final 16 holes of play. His three birdies tied for the seventh most total birdies during the event's first round of competition.
Isaiah Logue and Hutson Chandler are currently tied for 53rd place following a 7-over par 78 on Saturday.
Logue was only able to card one birdie on the day to his four bogeys and two double bogeys. A birdie at the par-3, No. 17 hole (221 yards) got Chandler back to 3-over par for the day, but the sophomore bogeyed four of his last five holes to drop four shots.
Rounding out Liberty's competitors in the field are Adam Eineving, who is tied for 60th place following an 8-over par 79, and Payton Taylor, who is tied for 69th place after a 9-over par 80.
The 16-team field will return to The Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlett Course tomorrow morning for the final round, which is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
Warmer temperatures are expected in the Columbus, Ohio, area on Sunday (highs in the mid-50s), but winds between 15-20 MPH could have an impact during the event's closing round of play.
