HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Sophomore
Brian O'Dea led the way on day two of the Kinder-Williams Invitational as the Christopher Newport men's golf team tied for third place at the season-opening event with a 14-over 590 (289-301). The Captains matched Shenandoah for third after Southern Virginia University snagged the team title at five-over par.
O'Dea recorded three birdies and 12 pars on day two as he fired the best score of the second round for the Captains with a one-over 73. One stroke shy of his career best round, which he matched on Monday, O'Dea had an extremely consistent 36-hole tournament and ranked second in the 96-player field with 26 pars. It marks the best 36-hole performance in his career after he finished tied for seventh with a one-over 145 (72-73).
The Charlottesville, Va. native was outstanding on the front nine, making the turn at two-under par with a 35 on the first half of the course. He then dropped to three-under with a birdie four on the 503-yard par five 11th hole before finishing +4 on the last seven holes. Having started on the third hole, O'Dea ralllied on his last two holes to pick up another birdie on the 336-yard par four 1st and finished at one-over par.
On the individual leaderboard
Nick Alexander finished one stroke ahead of O'Dea, powered by an impressive first round on Monday. Alexander took sixth place in the event with an Even par 144 (69-75). He added two more birdies to his tournament card on Tuesday and his biggest highlight came with a bounceback Eagle on the second hole. After bogeying the first hole, he rebounded with a three on the 490-yard par five 2nd hole to kickstart another strong round.
Stephen Patterson was +4 on day two and, like O'Dea, made hay on the front nine with seven pars. He added five more on the back while recording his lone birdie on the 178-yard par three 13th hole. For the tournament, Patterson tied for 25th with a 150 (74-76). Rounding out the team score on Tuesday was
Owen Taylor with a five-over 77. He finished his two-day performance tied for 3rd with an eight-over 152 (75-77). Taylor poured in a pair of birdies on Tuesday and sank nine par putts.
Rookie
Jacob Foti put down a pair of birdies on the back nine but could not overcome a slow start to the round and finished with an 11-over 83. In his first collegiate tournament, Foti tied for 55th with a 157 (74-83) to close out the day at 13-over par.
As a team, the Captains tied Shenandoah University with a 14-over 590. The Captains will return to action on September 30-October 1 as they head to the Gate City Invitational in Greensboro, N.C.
