Bucs fall to ninth following Saturday’s round

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (Oct. 13, 2012) – A day after shooting his lowest score of the season, sophomore Scott Gibson (Southerness, Scotland) followed that up with a 1-over-par 73 on Saturday and is tied for 24th following second round play at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at Blackthorn Club.

Gibson – who carded an even-par 72 in the opening round – strung together four straight birdies on the back nine and is one of 10 golfers sitting at 1-over 145 for the tournament. Gibson’s barrage of birdies began on the 406-yard, par-4 11th and ended on the 517-yard, par-5 14th. Overall, Gibson is only one of 16 golfers to birdie the 187-yard, par-3 12th on the weekend.

“The stretch of birdies felt good, especially after starting so poorly,” said Gibson, who was 4-over on the front nine. “I was pleased with the way I came back. I played really well. I got it going.”

Overall, the Bucs shot a 9-over 297 on Saturday and moved from sixth to ninth on the leaderboard with a two-round score of 585. Tennessee entered the day in a tie for first, but managed to break away from the pack as the 31st-ranked Vols fired a 1-under 287 and sit at 9-under 567 for the tournament. The Vols hold a three shot lead over Virginia and a four shot lead over Memphis and No. 12 Missouri.

“We didn’t play as well today as I thought we would,” ETSU coach Fred Warren said. “It’s disappointing. But hopefully the guys will work on some things and come out tomorrow and make up some ground.”

On the individual leaderboard, Memphis’ Grant Milner carded his second straight 5-under 67 and enters Sunday’s final round at 10-under 134, giving him a five shot lead over Wake Forest’s Evan Beck. Missouri’s Jace Long – who earned a share of last year’s title – is tied for third at 4-under 140.

Other ETSU notables included Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and fellow freshman Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland). Kristjansson recorded another round of 1-over 73 on Saturday and is in a four-way tie for 34th at 2-over 146, while Meronk is tied for 38th at 3-over 147.

The Bucs will be in the first group going out on Sunday as the final round begins at 8:30 a.m. Fans can follow all the action on Golfstat.com.

For more information on the ETSU men's golf team, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf link.