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Gastonia, NC (Seminoles.com) - The top-ranked FSU men's golf team is looking to close out the regular season with an astonishing fourth straight tournament win and the squad is closing in on that goal. After two rounds at the Gary Koch Invitational on Monday, the Seminoles have a nine stroke lead over No. 13 Auburn and the squad is 11 strokes ahead of third-place Kentucky.
"We came out ready to play this morning," said head coach Trey Jones. "We executed well and took advantage of the par 5's. I am looking forward to seeing how this team sleeps on a lead and how they come out tomorrow."
Playing without Jack Maguire, one of the nation's top golfers, due to injury, the Seminoles got strong rounds from all five golfers. The entire team placed inside the top 18 individually. Rowin Caron is tied for the tournament lead (-7) and Cristobal Del Solar is tied for fourth (-4). Josh Lee (-2) is in eighth, Hank Lebioda (E) is tied for 14th and Anthony Alex (+1) is tied for 18th.
"Cristobal and Anthony got us going with an opening round 66 and 69," said Jones. "I felt like the pins were more difficult in round two. Rowin continues to get better as he struggled with his ball striking but found a way to shoot 70-67."
On a day when only 13 golfers carded a score under par, three Seminoles all finished the day at -2 or better. FSU was the only school to place three golfers within the top 13.
The final round of the Gary Koch Invitational tees off Tuesday. Following tomorrow's final round, the Seminoles will have just over two weeks until they open postseason play in North Carolina at the ACC Championships.