Ege in second; Three Bucs in top-15 following 36 holes in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 13, 2023) – Highlighted by a strong start, the ETSU men’s golf team is in contention following the first two rounds of the General Hackler Championship, which got underway Monday from The Dunes Golf & Beach Club.

The Bucs, who enter Tuesday’s final round two shots off the lead, registered 13 birdies over the first seven holes in the opening round to grab momentum and the lead. ETSU sat atop the leaderboard at 15-under 274 following first round play and sits at 20-under-par 556 following 36 holes played in Myrtle Beach.

ETSU went back-and-forth with No. 16 Virginia in round two, and at the conclusion of the day, the Cavaliers have the one-stroke advantage at 22-under-par 554. Rounding out the top five teams include No. 39 Louisville (-15), Kent State (-12) and No 41 Liberty and No. 6 Auburn are tied for fifth at 11-under.

Mats Ege (Kristiansand, Norway) was as consistent as can be on Monday as he fired consecutive rounds of 5-under 67 to finish the day at 10-under-par 134. Ege is just one shot off the lead as Virginia’s Ben James, the 16th-ranked player via Golfstat, is at 11-under-par 133.

Ege crushed the par-5s – playing them at seven-under – while tying for the lowest average on the par-3s (2.75). For the day, Ege and Furman’s Sam Lape registered the most birdies over the 36 holes as they both finished with 13 on Monday.

Ege began the day on the par-4, 380-yard No. 10, which he posted a bogey, but the Buccaneer standout rattled off three straight birdies between No. 13-15 to play his first nine holes at two-under. Following the turn, Ege carded another bogey on the par-4, 425-yard No. 1, but he strung together four birdies over his final six holes to finish with the 67. Ege started the second round just like he did the first with a bogey on No. 10, but he quickly rebounded as he collected six birdies and 11 pars over his final 17 holes to remain near the top of the leaders.

Ege is one of three Buccaneers in the top-15 as Algot Kleen (Fiskebackskil, Sweden) is tied for ninth and Archie Davies (Carlisle, England) is tied for 14th. Remi Chartier (Montreal, Canada) is tied for 28th at 1-under-par 143. Chartier posted a 3-under 69 in the opener before finishing with a 2-over 74 in round two.

Kleen, coming off his first collegiate win at the Puerto Rico Classic, went 68-71 for his two rounds and is tied for ninth at 5-under-par 139. Over the 36 holes on Monday, Kleen tallied 24 pars and nine birdies. Davies had back-to-back rounds of 70 and is 4-under-par 140.

As a team, ETSU played the par-5s at 22-under and the par-3s at even-par – both are tied for the top scores among the 14-team field. The Buccaneers collected the second-most birdies at 44, while Virginia led all teams with 46.

ETSU and Virginia will be paired together in Tuesday’s final round as they go out at 10:25 a.m. from No. 1.

Fans can follow live scoring via Golfstat.com. In addition, live tweets will be available by following the Bucs on Twitter @ETSU_MGolf.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.