MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The North Carolina A&T men's golf team completed the first day of Appalachian State's Bash at the Beach on the par-71, 6,705-yard The Surf Golf and Beach Club course in 15th place on Monday.
The Aggies played two rounds of golf on Monday, shooting a 19-over, 602 to end the day 40 strokes behind the tournament leader Oral Roberts, who carded a 6-under, 562. App State is in second place at 2-under, 566, followed by UConn (567), Long Island University (570) and Utah Valley (571) in the top-5.
Freshman Samuel Drew Walker led the Aggies on the course by shooting a two-round 5-over 147. He is in a six-way time for 45th place, 11 shots off the leader Cadan Webber of Utah Valley, who shot a 6-under 136. There is a three-way tie for second place at 5-under 137. It includes App State's Lukas Jonsson, LIU's Marcelo Mexsen and Rhode Island's Bryson Richards. Oral Roberts' Rocco Repetto-Taylor is fifth at 4-under, 138.
Junior Martin Gutierrez had the second-lowest score for the Aggies as he finished in a seven-way tie for 75th at 9-over 151. Graduate Diego Gonzalez finished in a three-way tie for 84th at 9-over 153. Sophomore Carson Witherspoon finished with a two-round 154 and junior Conrado Chozas shot a 155.
Walker placed three birdies on his card, including the second hole he played on Monday, 366-yard, par-4 on No. 9. The birdie moved Walker to even par before he parred holes 10-13 before moving to 1-over with a bogey on the par-4 14th. Then, he carded a par on the par-4, 15th before posting bogeys on 16, 17, and 18 to move to 4-over. But he made the turn at the clubhouse and caught fire.
He birdied the par-3, 185-yard No. 3 and the par-5, 532-yard No. 5 to lower his score to 2-over. He closed out the first round with two pars before starting his second round on the par-4, 430-yard eighth. He only had one birdie on his card in the second. It occurred on the par-4, 317-yard 11th. Walker shot 3-over in the second round.
Gutierrez shot 6-over in the first round but recovered to card four birdies in the second round. He started the second round on the 471-yard, par-4 No. 10 with a birdie. He stayed at 1-under for the round until he bogeyed the 14th. He parred the next two holes before birdieing the par-5, 561-yard 17th to move back to 1-under.
He made the turn at 1-under before back-to-back birdies on the par-5 No. 1 and the par-4 No. 2 to move to 3-under for the round and 3-over for the tournament. Over his final seven holes of the second round with a double bogey, four bogeys and two pars to finish the second round at 3-over.
Gonzalez shot 2-over in the first round after carding four birdies. The Aggies close out the tournament on Tuesday with the third round.
