Senior Derek Rende and freshman Steven Fox combined to shoot five-under par to lead the UTC men’s golf team to a first place tie at 289 (+1) after 18 holes at the Furman Intercollegiate Friday afternoon. Chattanooga is tied with No. 18 Clemson.
Rende is in third-place at 69 (-3), four shots off the pace set by Western Carolina’s Tanner Briele who shot 65 (-7). Adam Black of Presbyterian is second at four-under (68), while Fox is tied for fourth with Clemson’s Ben Martin at 70 (-2).
The Mocs got off to a great start playing the first six holes at eight-under par led by Rende who started with three birdies and an eagle. Fredrik Qvicker, J.T. Clendenin and Steven Fox all played the first six at one-under, while Jaeger was at level par.
UTC played well on the holes it needed to as the course is much tougher on the back side than the front. The Mocs shot six-under on the front and seven-over on the back.
It was a shot-making day as sophomore Stephan Jaeger scored his second hole-in-one in collegiate competition with a pitching wedge on the par-three eighth hole from 161 yards out. Jaeger also chipped in for birdie on 18 to shoot even par 72.
Rende posted five birdies and an eagle, while Fox added four birdies and two bogeys. All-in-all, the Mocs four counters had two eagles and 14 birdies.
Qvicker shot 78 (+6), while Clendenin ended with an 80 (+8). Freshmen Alex Ratliff and Simon Forsslund are playing as individuals shooting 75 and 80, respectively.
Chattanooga tees off for tomorrow’s second round and will be led off by Clendenin. The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Sunday.
LEADERBOARD
1) Chattanooga289289 (+1)
T1) No. 18 Clemson289289 (+1)
3) Western Carolina291291 (+3)
4) Old Dominion293293 (+5)
5) Presbyterian296296 (+8)
6) Samford300300 (+12)
7) Mississippi State302302 (+14)
T8) Winthrop303303 (+15)
T8) Gardner-Webb303303 (+15)
T8) Charleston Southern303303 (+15)
T8) East Carolina303303 (+15)
T12) Kennesaw State304304 (+16)
T12) Virginia Tech304304 (+16)
T14) Furman305305 (+17)
T14) Wofford305305 (+17)
16) Elon308308 (+20)
17) UAB310310 (+22)
18) Rhode Island311311 (+23)
T19) Troy312312(+24)
T19) Francis Marion312312 (+24)
T19) Temple312312 (+24)
T22) Davidson313313 (+25)
T22) Francis Marion313313 (+25)
24) Marshall315315 (+27)
Mocs:
3) Derek Rende6969 (-3)
T4) Steven Fox 7070 (-2)
T9) Stephan Jaeger7272 (E)
T70) Fredrik Qvicker7878 (+6)
T101) J.T. Clendenin 8080 (+8)
NOTES:
>The Mocs played with Western Carolina and Temple.
>Senior Derek Rende posted his eighth par or better round of the season, fourth of the Spring…Second round in the 60’s on the season, 20th of his career…Has counted all 20 rounds this season.
>Sophomore Stephan Jaeger’s other collegiate hole in one came in the final round of the 2008 Carpet Capital Collegiate keying the Mocs’ win in the prestigious event…In seven Spring rounds, he has scored par or better four times…he has 12 par or better rounds on the season to lead the squad.
>Freshman Steven Fox’s 70 is his fifth par or better round of the season…He has been solid this Spring averaging 72.6 strokes per round in seven rounds.
>Eagles (Counters by Rounds): 2 (2/-/-). Rende 1, Jaeger 1.
>Birdies (Counters by Rounds): 14 (14/-/-). Rende 5, Fox 4, Qvicker 3, Jaeger 2, J.T. Clendenin 2
>Pars (Counters by Rounds): 39 (39/-/-). Fox 12, Jaeger 11, Rende 8, Qvicker 8, Clendenin 8.