EDITOR’S NOTE: CARROLL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION PRESS RELEASE
TEMPE, Ariz. – Greg Jones put up the best round of his career, recording seven birdies, including five straight to finish with a two-under par, 70 for a one-shot lead at the Frontier Conference Championship Monday at the ASU Karsten Couse in Tempe.
As a team, the Carroll men are in third place with a first-round 307, nine shots off of leader Rocky Mountain who has a team score of 298. Lewis-Clark State is second with a team score of 299.
“Greg was phenomenal today,” head coach Bennett MacIntyre said. “He was just locked in and focused and really kept our team within striking distance. We needed some guys to step up today and Greg did that and more. It was awesome to see him put up his best college round ever on the biggest stage.”
Rachel Miles led the Carroll women with a score of 88 which puts her in ninth-place overall. The Saints are in fourth-place as a team with a score of 369, just two shots off of No. 3 Montana Tech.
“We are only two shots back of third place Montana Tech and our girls are eager to get back on the course to improve tomorrow,” Macintyre said. “Our goal was to finish in the top three at this tournament, we had a tough time getting the ball to go down across the board today so I think we can easily pick up some shots in the short game.”
Joining Jones in the top 10 was Joseph Potkonjak at five-over par 77 for 10th-place Austin Egan is tied for 12th at six-over 78. Egan had to overcome more than the adversity of the course, he also had an equipment issue to deal with.
“After having a driver break in the practice round, senior Austin Egan came back and put together a solid round,” Macintyre said. “His parents had to go buy him another driver yesterday evening as we finished our practice round before we teed off early this morning.”
“Joseph Potkonjak continued to play consistent golf coming in with a 77,” MacIntyre added. “We will see better efforts from Ben Gardner and Stephen Santora as the week goes on and if the guys can get more consistent as a group we will be in a good spot coming down the stretch.”
Weslee Nehl was second on the women’s team and tied for 10th with a 17-over 89. Cailin Spencer was third at 22-over and Sydney Nowlen was 26-over.
Stephen Santora scored a 10-over 82 and Ben Gardner hit a 14-over 86.
The Saints return to the course at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring is available via the Birdie Fire App or on Birdiefire.com.
