Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo of Sam Clark teeing off on the first hole, taken by Erin Harvey.
MIDDLETOWN, Del. - - The quest for a sixth straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament is on track after the Wilmington University golf team as it shot a 302 and lead by nine stroke after the first round of the CACC Championship on Tuesday at Back Creek Golf Course.
The Wildcats lead upstart Felician by nine strokes, shooting a 302 (+18) on Monday with all five golfers finishing 14th or better. Junior Sam Clark leads the group of Wildcats with a 74, three-over par, a stroke off the lead.
Clark birdied holes five and seven before making the turn at one-over par. After sinking pars on the first five holes on the back nine, Clark bogeyed holes 15 and 16 to finish with a 74 (+3). He is one stroke off the lead, held by Felician's Andrew Geesey.
Sophomore Joey Russo was even par through the first nine holes, also hitting birdie on the fifth hole. After hitting par putts on the first three holes on the back nine, Russo double bogeyed 13 before bogeying 15 and 16 to finish with a 75 (+4) and in a tie for fifth overall.
Freshman Ryan Rucinski also birdied the par-five fifth and finished the front nine with a 36 (+1), but was four-over in the first six holes on the back nine before hitting pars on 16, 17, and 18. He is tied for seventh overall with a 76 (+5).
Junior Miguel Siercke rounded out the Wildcat scoring on Tuesday, finishing with a 77 (+6) and in a tie for 10th overall. Siercke birdied the par-three 14th, but followed with a double bogey on 16 to shoot a 38 (+2) on the back nine.
Senior Andreas Lunding collected the most birdies on the team in the first round, sinking birdie shots on three, six, 11, 13, and 15, but struggled to battled back from shooting a five-over nine on the opening hole. Lunding finished with a 78 (+7) and in a tie for 14th overall.
The Wildcats will be the last to tee off on Wednesday, as they are paired with Felician and Dominican. The three-some will start their tee times at 10:30 a.m. on the first hole.
Live stats, which will be updated every three holes, can be viewed here: http://golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=10471&x=0.372334666805
