Silvis, Ill. - In a round that was plagued with start-and-stop rain and lightning delays and covered the span of two days, the Marian men's golf team began the NAIA National Championship in 22nd place.
Lane Zedrick leads Marian's individual efforts, holding 28th place overall after 18 holes.
In Tuesday's opening round, Marian began the morning behind schedule, as Mother Nature intervened early in the day, delaying all tee times one hour. The Knights were able to get on the course over an hour behind schedule, but managed to get through three complete holes as a team, with
Nolan Potter completing six holes for the top effort on the team before storms washed out the remainder of play.Â
When play resumed on Tuesday, Marian's team score swelled in the wrong direction, as the Knights ended the round 16-over par and totaled a 300 score. Marian finished their wave of tee times at in 29th overall on the board, but gained seven spots as the second half of the field completed round one.
Lane Zedrick completed four holes before the break, playing even golf as a bridie on hole two balanced out his hole three bogey. Zedrick ended the front nine even, making par on his final five holes, and on the back nine sank one birdie against a pair of birdies, scoring a 72 overall. Zedrick's one-over score is tied for 28th overall, keeping the sophomore in the top-30 individually.
Brandon Heffner was one-over par on Tuesday, completing five holes before the break in competition. Heffner bogeyed hole two, and added one more on the front to score a 37. The senior bogeyed twice on the back nine, making par seven times to finish with a total score of 75. Heffner ended the round in 63rd place individually.
Nolan Potter led Marian early in the tournament, sitting even through six holes before play was suspended on Tuesday. Potter drained consecutive birdies to begin his round, but would bogey three times in total on the front nine to hit the turn with a 36. Potter's second nine was not as clean, scoring four-over on the back to end his round with a 76. The junior is tied for 88th with his score of 76.
Luke Beetz got off to a sluggish start in his first-ever NAIA Championship round, going three-over par as he was able to complete six holes before play was paused. When play resumed, Beetz picked up his game, making a birdie on his first hole to help complete the front nine with a 37. Beetz struggled early with multiple plus-scores on 10 and 11, but would fight back to with a birdie and six pars to end the first round with a 77. Beetz is 109th individually with his six-over score.Â
Weston Ogden played even golf to begin round one, finishing three holes before the suspension of the round. Ogden made par on each of his first three holes to begin play on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the junior was unable to keep up with his start, scoring a 39 on the front and back nine. The junior from Brownsburg finished the round with a birdie, as his total of 78 puts him in 121st place.
With the change in schedule on Tuesday due to the storms, the NAIA scrapped round four of the championship, making the competition a 54-hole event. Round one for all golfers will conclude on Wednesday, May 21, with round two coming on Thursday, May 22. The field will be cut to 15 teams and ties after Thursday, and the championship will conclude on Friday with round three.Â
Marian is five shots out of 15th place entering round two.
Nolan Potter will lead off the Knights from hole 10 at 2:40 p.m. in round two of the championship.
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