JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. - The Jekyll Island Collegiate is such a competitive and in-demand tournament that teams sometimes have to wait several years to earn a spot, so the Bridgewater Eagles find themselves on Jekyll Island for the first time in three years.
The Eagles also found themselves in a brutally strong field of 30 teams that includes 13 of the top 20 teams in the country. In an up-and-down first round on Friday, Bridgewater posted 312 to finish in the 26th spot.
Seniors Luke Hill and Ocean Armstrong led the way for the Eagles with twin scores of 76. Hill birdied both of the par-5 holes on the back nine of the Pine Lakes course to complete the inward nine at even par.
Armstrong also had some fun on the five-pars coming in: on the 15th hole he hit a massive drive and a 5-iron to 8 feet, making the putt for an eagle. On the 18th hole, Armstrong's drive fell two feet short of carrying the water hazard down the right side of the fairway; he re-teed the ball and then made eagle on the second ball to save par. "Ocean had an eagle in the practice round yesterday as well," pointed out head coach John Rogers. "His length is a true advantage and when he plays with confidence, some very cool things start to happen."
Jason Spaar and Ronald Uszenski each posted an 80 to provide the other two team scores. Spaar started the round with amazing consistency, making pars on the first six holes and turning still even. But a four-putt on the 10th hole set the tone for a tougher back nine, and two tee shots in trouble on the 18th hole led to a triple-bogey finish.
Uszenski, who led the team in their season-opening tournament at Montreat, had a day of streaks. He birdied the opening hole and was even through four; but he played the middle of the round at 10-over par when he hit a few errant tee shots. The sophomore rebounded late in the round, playing the final five holes one under.
Senior Jake Norby helped the Eagles jump out to a great start. He was even through five (despite missing a short birdie putt on the first hole) and turned one over. Two triple-bogies and a double-bogie on the final nine brought Norby in with an 83.
Playing as an individual on the Oleander course, senior Jeremy Pannebaker shot 77, good for a tie for fourth among the 39 individuals playing at Jekyll Island. Pannebaker had three birdies on the day, including his finishing hole.
The Eagles started with some great golf and were the only team to get to -2 as a squad, briefly holding the lead. The team fell back in the middle of the round, but also rallied late, playing the final four holes in a cumulative score of just +1. Bridgewater finished in 26th, but six teams in the afternoon wave did not complete the first round when daylight ran out, and there was potential to finish as high as 24th.
"On paper we are the 25th-ranked team in this field," said Rogers. "We pretty much played to that spot today, but we are better than we played. I'm not sure our players have figured out yet how good they are. When they do, this team will upset some very good teams- hopefully we'll see it this week."
The Eagles (ranked #66 nationally) finished the round ahead of two teams ranked in the top-40 and were just two shots behind #8-ranked Claremont Mudd-Scripps.
Play resumes at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday and live scoring can be seen at Golfstat: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=13723.
