The Chattanooga Mocs got off to a slow start but had a strong finish at the Scenic City Collegiate at the Honors Course in suburban Chattanooga. The squad started with 308 and closed with a 290, the second-lowest round of the day.
“It’s been a long time since our guys got a competitive round in as a team,” Coach Mark Guhne said. “We had to shake a little rust off. I’m very proud of the way we came back in the afternoon and put ourselves in position to compete.”
A.J. Lintunen had the low card in both rounds.
He started out with a 74 before turning in 69 for a 1-under 143. Leon Bader supported him well in the second 18 with a 1-under 71. He’s tied for 11th at 149.
Dominic Jones is next on the list tied for 22nd at 153. He capped an afternoon 74 with an impressive sand save on 18. Oliver Simonsen and Matt Smith shot twin 157s with Connor Nolan shaking off a tough seven-hole stretch to end up with 163, but he played his final 16 holes at +1 after the rough patch that ended round one and carried over into the second. Moritz Lammel had 161 playing as an individual.
According to Lintunen, patience played as big a role as his ball striking.
“First of all, I’m relieved it’s over,” he grinned. “It’s a tough walk for 36 out here. I hit it super good today. It felt like wherever I aimed is where it went. I didn’t have to do too much to get my birdies, most of them were tap ins. It was almost a flawless round with just a couple of hiccups. This course will punish you for mistakes.”
UAB and Little Rock share the lead at 591. Middle Tennessee and ETSU are tied for third with 594 just ahead of the Mocs. Georgia Southern is sixth at 601 with Dalton State (609), Central Arkansas (611), Western Carolina (629) and Mercer (641) rounding out the 10-team field. Dalton’s Ben Rebne is the leader at 2-under 142.
Chattanooga starts off No. 1 for Tuesday’s final 18. The trio of Nolan, Jones and Bader lead off at 8 a.m., followed 11 minutes later by Lintunen, Simonsen and Smith. MocsVision is producing the final round on ESPN3 with the broadcast starting at 12:30 p.m.
Scenic City Collegiate
Sept. 21-22 | Ooltewah, Tenn. | Honors Course | Par 72 | 7,290 Yards
Lineup
2) A.J. Lintunen: 74-69=143 (-1)
T11) Leon Bader: 78-71=149 (+5)
T22) Dominic Jones: 79-74=153 (+9)
T33) Oliver Simonsen: 77-80=157 (+13)
T33) Matt Smith: 80-77=157 (+13)
T49) Connor Nolan: 87-76=163 (+19)
Individual:
T44) Moritz Lammel: 83-78=161 (+17)