GALESBURG, ILL.—Turning in a scorching even-par 288, the Central College men's golf team grabbed a 3-shot lead at the Knox College (Ill.) Invitational Saturday.
Augustana College (Ill.) follows at 291 in the seven-team tourney, with host Knox third at 296.
Competing at the par-72 Soangetaha Country Club,
Kayden Pendergrass (senior, Mount Vernon) fired a 1-under par 71 and is tied for third in the medalist race. Pranav Nandakumar of Knox College and Sam Evenson of Augustana College (Ill.) share the lead with 69. Central's
Blake Wynn (junior, Milan, Ill., Sherrard HS) and
Maison Brandt (freshman, Byron, Ill.) are tied for sixth at 72.
"We jumped out to a really nice start," coach
Mel Blasi said. "
Blake Wynn was 3-under through his first six holes and Kayden (Pedergrass) and Maison (Brandt) were both under par. Kayden got it to 2-under and then three-putted the last hole but he played well. And I was really happy with Blake again. He had a great day the other day (winning the Central Shootout Tuesday) and kind of continued the momentum."
Crew Klingner (freshman, Williamsburg) is tied for 11th at 73 while
Carter Yurgae (freshman, West Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) shot 80.
"The big one was Crew," Blasi said. "We needed that fourth score and Crew really hung in there. He birdied his last hole to shoot 73 and kind of gave us a lift."
Playing as an at-large entrant,
Cooper Langfelt (senior, Tabor, Fremont-Mills HS) shot 91.
"Soangetaha is a good golf course," Blasi said. "We had light winds, the course was still pretty soft and the greens weren't as fast as they can get. Those were factors that made the course a little more scoreable. But it'll be tough tomorrow because at the end of the day you could really see the course getting pretty firm and it'll be windier tomorrow."
The tourney concludes with a 9 a.m. shotgun start Sunday.
"Augustana and Knox are both pretty good so we'll have our hands full," Blasi said. "We need to really play well to end up on top."
