James Leads, SE in Third at Super Regional

Men's Golf | 5/3/2016 6:35:00 PM

ALLENDALE, Mich. – A solid start as a team and another great outing by Zach James put Southeastern in control for much of the second round at the Central/Midwest Super Regional in Allendale, Mich., but a tough stretch on the back nine brought the Savage Storm back to the pack as they fired a 300 on day two and are currently third heading into the final round on Wednesday.
 
The final round at The Meadows will be played at 6,958 yards and still a par 71 with SE's first golfer, Marcos Sevilla Suarez, slated to tee off at 12:50, followed in 10 minute increments by Guillermo Retana, Hayden Foster, Mason Horner and James.
 
The Storm spent much of the day atop the leaderboard in large part to James' efforts on the front nine where he posted three birdies and went out at three under, but a pair of bogeys and a double on the back nine would bring him back in with a second round 72, which was still enough to leave him in a three-way tie for the lead at the tournament with a two-day score of a one-under 141.
 
Horner was next in line with a three-over 74 on the day after a front nine that also featured three birdies, but suffered from a pair of bogeys and a double.  His back nine slipped to four over before he birdied the final hole to finish with a 74, bringing his total to 148 in a tie for 21^st.
 
Foster slipped a hair on day two, going out in a plus-two after mixing in a pair of birdies, but finished the back at four over to card a 77 for the round and move his two-day mark to 151 which is tied for 43^rd.
 
Retana matched Foster on the day, using a birdie on the ninth hole to bring his front nine to four-over.  He then turned in five-straight par scores before finishing bogey, birdie, bogey and bogey for a 77 which brought his tourney tally to 152 and put him in a tie for 50^th.
 
Sevilla took the hardest hit on the day, dropping six strokes off his first round score. Despite turning in three birdies on the round, he was plagued by 12 bogeys to finish with an 80 which brought his two-day score to a 154 in a tie for 59^th.
 
Despite the rough finish, the Storm are well within reach of their first super regional championship as they trail leader Central Missouri by only three strokes.
 
UCM leads with a 588, with Bellarmine in second at 589 while SE checks in at 591.
 
Tiffin, who entered the day as the leader, slipped to fourth with a 592, while Washburn rounds out the top-five at 593.
 
The top five number is key as the top five finishers will advance to the NCAA National Finals.
 
Lewis checks in at six with a 594, followed by Grand Valley State at 596, Central Oklahoma at 598, Missouri-St. Louis 599 and Northern Michigan at 603.
 
Fellow Great American Conference rivals Henderson State come in at 12^th with a 606, followed by Arkansas Tech in 13^th with a 612, while Southwestern Oklahoma State rounds out the GAC contingent in 17^th with a 614.