WINCHESTER, Va. - Senior Jeremy Pannebaker's round at Winchester Country Club was a microcosm of the Eagles' showing at the Shenandoah Invitational- a slow start followed by a very strong finish. At the same time that Pannebaker went on a birdie barrage, the Eagles shot up the leaderboard, briefly moving within a couple shots of second place.
The Eagles began the day in seventh place, but every player on the starting team improved their score in the second round, propelling the squad into a third-place finish. Pannebaker, who was 5 over par on his first three holes, eventually caught fire and led the Eagles' charge by making 6 birdies in an eleven-hole stretch in the middle of his round. Pannebaker's final score of 74 was a 10-shot improvement over his first round.
"I wasn't real sure how my round was going to go after getting off to a bad start, but I was able to fight back and put together one of the best stretches of my golf career to salvage the round and help the team," said Pannebaker.
Senior Ocean Armstrong shot even par 71, a two-shot improvement from his first round. His steady play led to a tie for 4th place, out of 77 players in the field.
"I'm happy with how I played the past two days. I left a few shots out there with some dumb decisions but overall I am pleased," said Armstrong, adding, "I have been working on a new swing pattern over the summer and it finally feels like it is starting to come together. I'm looking forward to the rest of the fall season."
Senior Luke Hill shot a 72 to improve on his first round by two shots, and finish in a tie for seventh place. Hill made birdies on the first, seventh, and sixteenth holes, and his strong start to the season has him among the scoring leaders in the ODAC.
Freshman Jason Spaar provided the forth score for the Eagles- posting a 76, which was five shots better than Sunday's round.
Senior Matthew Padgett also improved on Monday and finished with a two-day total of 176.
For the second straight week, the Eagles placed two teams in the top ten, a testament to the depth of talent on the team.
Senior Jake Norby continued his impressive start to the season with rounds of 76-75 that led the Eagles' B-team. He tied for 16th overall.
Freshman Jacob Czerwinski has wasted no time making a mark on the team, posting quality scores of 79-75 at Shenandoah after making the first team at the home event least week.
Sophomore Ronald Uszenski was battling an injury but produced a strong score of 74, an eight-shot improvement over round one.
Freshman Matthew Sengul finished his first collegiate tournament with an 85.
Rounding out the B-team, junior Eugene Dillon finished with a two day total of 172.
The starting team's total of 293 for the second round capped a nineteen-shot improvement from Sunday. Hampden-Sydney won the event with a two-day total of 580, followed by the University of Mary Washington (600), and the Eagles finished third at 605.
"I told the guys before the round this morning that I hoped part of the team culture would be that we always find ways to move forward," said head coach John Rogers, finishing his second tournament with the men's program. "So I was pleased with how they responded today. It is very difficult to make a big move up the leaderboard in these college tournaments- at least when you only have two days- because there's so much parity among the teams. I think the Eagles made a statement today."
