Blue Devils in Second at Irish Creek Collegiate

Saturday, April 9

Kannapolis, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at Irish Creek Collegiate

Paolini Tied for First at 97th VSGA Amateur Championship

Blue Devils in Second at Irish Creek Collegiate

4/9/2011 9:03:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

Kannapolis, N.C. -- The Duke men's golf team fired an eight-under 276 in the opening round and was even-par in the second round when play was suspended at the Irish Creek Collegiate on Saturday. The Blue Devils are four shots off the lead with five players currently in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard.

Sophomore Brinson Paolini is tied for fourth at three-under with four holes remaining in the his second round. The Virginia Beach, Va., native opened the tournament with three straight birdies (No. 5-7) and moved to four-under with a birdie on the 584-yard, par 5 14th hole. Paolini had his only bogey of the round on the 242-yard, par 3 18th hole before closing with four straight pars for a three-under 68. He was even-par in the second round with three birdies, eight pars and three bogeys when play was suspended.

Spencer Anderson, a junior from Pacific Palisades, Calif., is also tied for fourth at three-under through 30 holes. Anderson posted a one-under 70 in the opening round. He was two-over with three holes remaining before carding a birdie on No. 4, an eagle on the 322-yard, par 4 fifth hole and a par on No. 6. Anderson got off to a hot start in the second round with four birdies on the first eight holes to move to four-under. He suffered back-to-back bogeys (No. 15 & No. 16) before bouncing back with pars on No. 17 and No. 18. Anderson has six holes remaining in his second round.

Senior Wes Roach and sophomore Tim Gornik are both tied for 10th at one-under. Roach fired a one-under 70 in the opening round and is even-par in round two with three holes remaining. He carded five birdies in the opening round as was at four-under at one point before suffering three bogeys over his final six holes of play. Roach opened with a double-bogey on No. 4 in the second round but recovered with birdies on No. 5, No. 8, No. 12 and No. 13 to move to two-under. He dropped back to even-par with bogeys on No. 16 and No. 18 before play was halted due to thunderstorms in the area.

Gornik shot a season-low 68 (-3) in the opening round. He was even-par late in the round before finishing with a birdie on the par 3 third hole and an eagle on the 322-yard, par 4 fifth hole. Gornik had one birdie, 10 pars, one bogey and a double-bogey when second round play was stopped.

Sophomore Julian Suri is tied for 25th at two-over. He recorded five birdies, nine pars and four bogeys to post a one-under 70 in the opening round. Suri is three-over in the second round with six holes remaining.

Freshman Yaroslav Merkulov, playing as an individual, is tied for sixth at two-under. He got off to a rocky start on Saturday with two bogeys and a double-bogey on his opening four holes of the first round. Merkulov battled back with a pair of birdies over the next 14 holes to finish with a two-over 73. The Penfield, N.Y., native carried the momentum into the second round. After opening with pars on No. 16 and No. 17, Merkulov carded five straight birdies (No. 18 through No. 4) and added another birdie on the par 5 sixth hole to move to six-under in the round. He suffered back-to-back bogeys on No. 10 and No. 11 but recovered with a par on No. 12 before play was stopped. Merkulov is four-under in the round heading into his final three holes of play.

Austin Cody, also playing as an individual, is tied for 30th at three-over through 33 holes of play. The freshman from North Charleston, S.C., carded three birdies and 13 pars in the opening round but also suffered a pair of double-bogeys en route to a one-over 72. Cody started the second round slowly with three straight bogeys before rebounding to play the next 12 holes at one-under.

Wake Forest holds the top spot at 12-under followed by Duke (-8), Louisville (+1), Middle Tennessee State (+5), Kennesaw State (+8) and Coastal Carolina (+8).

Evan Beck (Wake Forest) and Brad Simons (Middle Tennessee State) are tied for the tournament lead at five-under, while Lee Bedford (Wake Forest) is one shot back. Paolini and Anderson are tied for fourth at three-under with Merkulov and Roach also in the top 10 overall.

Second round action will resume on Sunday with an 8:15 am start. The final round will begin with a shotgun start 45 minutes after the completion of the second round.