Men's Golf | 4/3/2023 10:04:00 PM
PALM BEACH, Fla. – North Carolina A&T freshman Samuel Drew Walker followed up his incredible third round at the A&T Aggie Invitational last week with an excellent opening at the Southern Invitational on Monday on the par-72, 6,757-yard The Falls Club golf course.
The 11 men's golf teams participating played two rounds on Monday. Walker finished the day in a three-way tie for sixth place by shooting a two-round 1-under 143 as he carded seven birdies on Monday. Walker's 1-under comes off the 2-under third round he shot at the Aggie Invitational last Tuesday to make him 3-under in the previous three rounds he has played.
Despite his fabulous day, he is still eight shots off the lead after Towson's Jeremy Summerson, who entered the clubhouse 9-under 135. St. John's Peicheng Chen is three shots off the lead after shooting a 6-under 138. Jacksonville's Joseph Sullivan is third at 4-under 140, followed by a two-way tie for fourth and the three-way tie for sixth.
Jacksonville leads the tournament at 3-under 573, followed by St. John's (580) and Long Island U. (581). A&T is in seventh place after shooting a 17-over 593.
Walker was 1-over after his three holes as his day started on the par-4 10th. But Walker scored for the first time when he birdied the par-5, 553-yard 13th to move to even par. Walker made the turn at 2-over before birdieing another par-5 on the 517-yard first. Then, after a double bogey on the par-3 third to get to 3-over, Walker caught fire.
He birdied the last three holes he played, starting with the par-3, 196-yard seventh. He birdied his third par 5 of the round before carding a three on the par-4, 396-yard ninth to finish the first round at even par.
Walker opened the second round with four straight pars after starting on the 10th again. A bogey on the par-4 14th moved him to plus-1 on the day. Then, he birdied the par-3, 167-yard 16th. He remained at even par until he birdied the No. 1 again to reach 1-under.
Graduate Diego Gonzalez had the second-lowest score for A&T. Gonzalez is in a five-way tie for 16th at 3-over 147. He started his day by firing off a first-round 2-under 70. He opened the first round with a bogey on the par-3 11th before bogeying the 12th. Gonzalez then got his round going with a birdie on the par-5 13th.
He then birdied the par-3 16th (167 yards) and par-4 17th (378 yards) to get him to 1-under for the round. Gonzalez then hit his best shot of the day on the first, scoring an eagle on the hole to move to 3-under. He stayed there bogeying the eighth and ninth. Gonzalez closed the first round with a solid three on the par-4, 398-yard 10th.
Martin Gutierrez finished in a three-way tie for 31st with a 6-over 150. Conrado Chozas shot 9-over 153 and Carson Witherspoon shot 16-over 160. The final round will begin on Tuesday.
