Meronk in first; Bucs three shots off the lead

RALEIGH, N.C. (Oct. 6, 2014) – The 30th-ranked ETSU men’s golf team put itself in position to defend its title on day one of the Wolfpack Intercollegiate.

The Bucs, who won last year’s tournament by 11 strokes over UNCG, sit in second-place at 1-over-par 569 after the first two rounds, which were completed on Monday at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course. After recording a team score of 6-over 290 in the morning, ETSU posted a strong run in the afternoon as the Blue and Gold fired a 5-under 279, placing them three shots behind tournament host and leader NC State heading into Tuesday’s final round.

The Wolfpack strung together consecutive rounds of 1-under-par 283 to end the day at 2-under 566.

As the Bucs sit in second-place in the team standings, junior Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) holds a one-shot lead on the individual leaderboard. Meronk, who already has one tournament win this fall, fired 4-under-par 138 (70-68) on Monday. The 25th ranked golfer totaled eight birdies on the day, while he took the outright lead following his final birdie on the par-4, 482-yard 18th to cap off a successful showing after 36 holes of play. In the end, Meronk played the final 11 holes of the second round at 4-under-par.

Meanwhile, senior Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales) and junior Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.) also posted top-12 finishes on Monday.

Pugh – who held the individual lead midway through the second round – finished the day in five-way tie for seventh at 1-under 141 (71-70). After recording one birdie and one bogey in the opening round, Pugh got off to a blazing start in round two as he eagled the par-5, 578-yard No. 1 and moved to 3-under after carding a birdie on No. 4. From there, Pugh posted consecutive bogeys on the next two holes, but the Welshman regrouped with back-to-back birdies on No. 7 and 8 en route to recording a 3-under on the front nine. However, Pugh bogeyed the first two holes on the back nine, resulting in his 70. Overall, Pugh was one of four golfers to pencil an eagle on his scorecard on Monday.

Hickman made a move in the second round as he jumped 19 spots up the leaderboard and is tied for 12th even-par 142 (74-68). The Centreville, Md. native totaled nine birdies on day one, while six came in the second round. Hickman’s nine birdies tied for the third-most by any golfer in the tournament.

Sophomore Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Śląskie, Poland) is tied for 42nd, while senior Tom Heggarty (Cheshire, England) bounced back with a 73 after finishing with an 82 in the first round. Freshman Cayman Ratliff (Kingsport, Tenn.) led all individual golfers as he's tied for 33rd. Ratliff fired his lowest collegiate round by posting a 71 in the afternoon.

Tuesday’s final round begins at 8 a.m., while the Bucs tee off at 9:40. ETSU is paired with NC State and East Carolina. Live scoring can be followed on Golfstat.com.

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 Bold Indicates Individual Golfer