Jeff Karlsson hitting out of a tough spot on Tuesday

Trying to Finish Strong

Ben Greene's 74 leads the way for Owls on rainy second day of A-Sun Championship

4/20/2010 6:01:38 PM

By: by Scott Lipsky

Team Leaderboard I Individual Leaderboard I Wednesday Tee Times

BRASELTON, Ga. – Ben Greene shot a 2-over par 74 to lead the way for the Kennesaw State men’s golf team in round 2 of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship on a rainy Tuesday at the Legends Course at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Ga. The Owls will enter Wednesday’s final round in a tie for eighth place at 28-over 604 after a 15-over 303 on Tuesday.

Greene, a freshman, finished strong on Tuesday, making birdies on two of his last three holes to salvage what had been a relatively up-and-down round in rainy conditions. Starting on the back nine, as all of the Owls did during both rounds thus far, Greene collected four bogeys during his first six holes, pairing them with two birdies before settling down and making par on the next five holes. His day was capped off by a nice birdie on the par-5 ninth, in which he hit his second shot just 15 feet from the hole before two-putting for birdie.

“Off the tee I was all over the place, but I’d say I scrambled really well today,” Greene said of his performance off the tee on Tuesday. “Part of it was fun because I got to hit some really creative shots based on some of the crazy places I hit the ball today, but it doesn’t feel good when you’re standing over the ball and not feeling as confident about your tee shot.”

Another Owl who struggled off the tee on Tuesday was sophomore Jeff Karlsson. Karlsson, who started the day tied for fourth after an opening round 71, put himself in some tough spots in the early going. After bogeying 12, he hit the ball well off line on the par-4 13th, and it took him several shots to get the ball near the green. It would take an impressive made putt from 40 feet to preserve a bogey-5 on the hole. He went out in 5-over 41 before playing a little better on the back nine, firing a 1-over 37 to finish with a 78 on the day.

Senior Alex Jones had a solid round for most of the round, heading into the ninth hole, his 18th, at 1-over par for the day, 8-over par for the tournament, but stumbled coming home, making a double-bogey 7 to finish with a 3-over 75. Sophomore Sam Curtis shot 76 and senior JP Putnam had a 78 on Tuesday to round out the scoring.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been consistently inconsistent across the board. We struggled at the beginning of the round and were never really able to get anything going,” head coach Jay Moseley said. “Alex had a good round going for us, but he had a tough finish. It was frustrating for our guys, but they hung in there and tried as hard as they could all day long. We just have to figure out a way to get things back on track and play a little more consistently on Wednesday.”

The Owls finished the day tied with Stetson in a tie for eighth place at +28 604. They trail East Tennessee State by 33 strokes, who shot a +2-over 290 on Tuesday to enter the final round at 5-under 571, leading North Florida, who had the best round of the day with a 5-under 283, by three strokes.

As they have the first two days, the Owls will begin play on Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. off of the 10th tee. Putnam will be the first off for the Owls, who are paired with USC Upstate and Stetson for the second consecutive round, followed by Jones, Curtis, Karlsson and Greene in nine minute intervals.

A-Sun Men's Golf Championship- Round Two

Alex Jones tee shot hole 16

East Tennessee St.

-5

281

290

571

North Florida, U. of

-2

291

283

574

Florida Gulf Coast U

292