DAYTON, OHIO, SEPT. 22, 2014 - After 36 holes of golf Monday at the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio, the field of 12 teams is essentially down to two.
The University of South Florida men's golf team finished the first two rounds of play Monday at 11 strokes over par, in a two-way tie with East Tennessee State for the tournament lead, a full 12 strokes ahead of UAB for third place.
The par-71 Inverness Golf Course played tough for all comers Monday, but Bulls' freshman Claudio Correa navigated the course extremely well in both rounds. Correa birdied four holes in the first round to card USF's only score below par on the day, a 70 (-1). The freshman followed up his round with five birdies in the second 18, scoring a 72 (+1) to sit in a three-way tie for first place heading into the final round.
As a team, USF shot 293 (+9) in the first round, and improved by seven shots in the second round to card a 286 (+2). The Bulls did it with help from their upperclassmen, as Trey Valentine and Chase Koepka posted a pair of counting scores. Valentine (Tied fifth) parred 27 of his 36 holes, shooting a 73 (+2) in the first round and 71 (even) in the second. Koepka carded a 74 (+3) in the first round before using four late birdies to card a 72 (+1) in the second, sitting in 12th place individually.
After Aksel Olsen's 76 (+5) counted for the Bulls in the first round, sophomore Rigel Fernandes returned to the scorecard for USF, shooting 71 (even) in the second round with help from three mid-round birdies.
USF and ETSU will square off tomorrow morning with a shot at a tournament win. Follow the entire round and get full stats from the tournament HERE.
