(DAVIE, Fla.) – After 18 holes at the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional at Grande Oakes Golf club, the No. 5 University of North Georgia men’s golf team sits in a tie for seventh place, with Noah Zediker leading the way after his four-under-par round placed him into a tie for third.
The Nighthawks sit just one stroke back of the all-important sixth spot on the leaderboard. Evan Thompson and Stephen Kinsel sit in a tie for 38th after carding even par rounds. Thompson’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the second hole, while Kinsel played a consistent round throughout, carding two birdies and two bogeys on the day.
Hughes Threlkeld sits in a tie for 71st after a two-over-par round with Will Chambless rounding out the Nighthawks lineup, struggling at the end front nine but settling in on the back-nine, carding eight pars and just one bogey.
Threlkeld will lead off the Nighthawks to begin the second round at 8:20 a.m. with Chambless, Kinsel, Zediker and Thompson to follow, pairing with No. 3 West Florida and No. 8 Georgia Southwestern.
The loaded field features 19 teams ranked inside of Golfstat’s top 50 and 13 inside of the top 25. Seven teams are ranked in the Bushnell/GolfWeek Coaches Poll top-10 including Anderson (1st), Barry (2nd), Lee (t3rd), West Florida (t3rd), North Georgia (5th), Nova Southeastern (8th) and Georgia Southwestern (9th).
After 54-holes, the top six teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each regional will advance to the finals, May 22-26 at Avalon Lakes in Warren, Ohio. The finals will be hosted by the Mountain East Conference and Avalon Lakes at The Grand Resort.
