ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T men's golf team is back in action. The Aggie men started their spring semester season on Monday at the World Golf Village Collegiate hosted by Eastern Kentucky at the par-72, 7,000-yard World Golf Village King & Bear golf course.
The Aggies are in 12th place after the first day and first two rounds of the tournament. Eight teams did not finish their second round due to the loss of daylight. The Aggies completed their second round, finishing with a 43-over 619.
North Florida shot even par and leads second-place Bellarmine by 25 strokes even though North Florida did not complete its second round.
Freshman Agib Hughes leads the Aggies after the first day of competition. Hughes delivered a first-round 73, followed by a second-round 77 to place 19th after the first two rounds at 6-over par. The clubhouse leader is North Florida's Brett Schell. Schell shot an 8-under 136, including a second-round 66 to lead second-place Jason Duff of North Florida and Flippo Serra of North Florida by seven strokes.
Hughes started his spring semester play on the par 5 540-yard ninth hole, and he started it with a birdie. Hughes's bogey on No. 10 would be the first of three bogeys he would card on during the first round. But after 10, Hughes parred the next three holes before posting a birdie on the par 5, 545-yard 14th. Hughes put together nine more pars during Round 1 before moving to the second round, where he opened with a par on the ninth.
On the back nine, he posted a double bogey and two bogeys, but he did birdie the 14th for the second time on Monday to finish with a 39 on the back nine. His front nine started with a bogey, a par, and a double bogey before he magnificently posted an eagle on the 555-yard, par 5, fourth to move to 4-over for the tournament.
He placed three additional pars and one bogey on his card after the eagle to finish the front nine with a 38.
Freshman Ignacio Zapata had a scorching start on Monday. He opened the day on the par-4, 10th with a par before birdieing the par-4, 410-yard 11th, and the par-3, 180-yard 13th. Zapata remained at 2-under until he carded bogeys on 15 and 17. Zapata parred 18 to finish the back nine at even par.
Zapata got off to a slower start on the front nine. He recorded two bogeys and two double bogeys, but he birdied the par-5, 4th. Round 1 ended for Zapata with three straight pars to put him 43 for the front nine and 79 for the round.
He had three additional birdies in the second round, all coming on the front nine. Zapata birdied No. 4 again, and carded a three on the par-4, 360-yard No. 6. Zapata parred holes 7 and 8 before posting a four on the par-5, 540-yard ninth. Zapata finished the front nine with an even-par 36 and the second round with a 3-over 75. He is in a three-way tie for 39th at 10-over 154.
Camilo Marin Raga had three birdies over the first three rounds, finishing with a two-round 157. Freshman Pedro Pereira posted two birdies and finished at 158. Freshman Mauricio Alvarado also competed. He shot 167.
Round 3 will start on Tuesday as eight teams try to complete their second rounds. A&T is scheduled to tee off at 12:45 p.m.
