Darkness Delays Record Setting Day at Kyle Ryman | Oilers Hold 23-Shot Lead
Tiffin, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's golf team played 35 of 36 holes on the first day of the Kyle Ryman Memorial Tournament hosted by Mohawk Golf & Country Club and the Tiffin Dragons on Monday, Oct. 5. Due to a two-hour fog delay at the beginning of the day, teams were just minutes short of completing their rounds before the event was ended due to darkness. Teams will play their final holes tomorrow morning at 8:30 am and will then begin their third and final round once new tee-times have been established.
Although the round is still incomplete, the Oilers, who are 21-under with one player through 36 holes, had a banner day as they currently lead the tournament by 23 shots and are the only team with a score under par.
In the first round of the day, Findlay posted their fifth-best 18-hole score in program history with a 281 (-7). Not to be outdone, as the weather warmed up, so did the Oilers. With still four scores to be reported, the Orange and Black are 14-under par in round two and on pace to set a new 18 and 36-hole program records and a new 36-hole conference record. The current 18-hole mark was set last year at the G-MAC Fall Preview (276 | -12) while the low 36-hole record, both school and conference, was from last year's Ohio Cup held at Red Hawk Run in Findlay (558 | -18).
Senior Luke Kelly is the only player for the Oilers to officially complete all 36 holes on the day. The all-American fired a 70 (-2) in his morning round before going off for six birdies in his nightcap to shoot 67 (-5). Kelly is currently in second place in the event. His second-round score of 67 (-5) is tied for fourth all-time at Findlay for 18 holes while his 36-hole score of 137 (-7) ties Sam Griffith who just posted a 137 last week at the Brickyard Fall Invite. However, there is one man who can dethrone Kelly and Griffith and that is junior Tanner Grzegorczyk who is on top of the leaderboard at eight-under.
Grzegorczyk used five birdies in his opening round, including four on the more difficult back nine, to shoot 69 (-3). The junior then found himself in a groove in round two. Starting on the second hole, Grzegorczyk made par on his first five holes. He then birdied six of his next eight holes to vault to the top spot on the leaderboard at six-under. A pair of bogeys sent him back to -4, but a birdie on 18 as darkness fell leaves him at five-under for his round and eight-under for the tournament with one hole to play, the 389-yard, par 4, first hole. A par on that hole would set a new 18-hole career-best for Grzegorczyk and tie him with Kelly for fourth all-time at Findlay. It would also establish a new 36-hole school and conference record at 136 (-8).
Not to be outdone by the veterans, freshman Justin Atkinson shot an even-par 72 to open his day and has made five birdies in his incomplete second round to find himself at two-under for the tournament and in a tie for fifth.
Junior Caleb Westfall was the third player for Findlay to officially record a round under par on the first day as he turned in a two-under 70 to open his tournament. Westfall is currently one-over in his second round at is tied for seventh at one-under for the event.
Senior Sam Griffith, coming off his record-setting performance last week at the Brickyard Fall Invite, shot a 74 (+2) in his morning round, but has made five birdies in round two and is currently even-par for the tournament and tied for tenth, putting Findlay's starting lineup all in the top-ten on the leaderboard.
Findlay's B team is currently tied for sixth on the team leaderboard with a first-round score of 303 (+15) and with six holes remaining, a +10 for a total score of 25-over par.
That squad is led by freshman Donnie Professori who is tied of 19th overall after an opening round 74 (+2). With one hole left, Professori is +1 in his second round. Also tied for 19th is senior Brock Kehres who shot a 73 (+1) to start his day and is currently two-over in his afternoon round.
Sophomore Holden Scribner is tied for 41st in the event at +8 overall and has just one hole remaining to cap off a solid second round at one-over while junior Hunter Foltz is twelve-over for the event and is tied for 58th.
Senior Parker Haynes rounds out the squad at +13 overall after an opening round 79 (+7). He is tied for 62nd overall.
Freshman Ty Schobelock is playing as an individual and is tied for 48th overall at ten-over. Schobelock started his day with an even-par 72.
The second round will conclude tomorrow morning and will immediately be followed by the third and final round.