JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. -- The sun came out for the second round of the Jekyll Island Collegiate and the Bridgewater College men's golf team remained steady at King & Prince Golf Club, following a first-round 307 with a score of 308 on Saturday. 
 
Two Eagles actually had to complete the first round early on Saturday, due to delayed tee times and poor weather on Friday. With their #1 and #2 players headed to the reachable par-5 18th hole at 8 AM, the Eagles were hopeful of finishing the first round with a score of 304 or lower, which would have put them in 19th place among thirty of the best DIII teams in the nation. Unfortunately Max Bondurant and Alex Deas combined to play the final hole at +3. This gave the Eagles a tally of 307 for the first round and then the players had to prepare for the start of the second round.
 
Both players rebounded at the re-start, though, and both were only one over par through eight holes. Bondurant uncharacteristically had three large numbers on the back nine, but he also carded five birdies on the day. He got revenge on the closing hole with a birdie and came in with a 77.
 
Deas had a less dramatic finish, matching the 77 with a blend of six pars and three bogies coming in.
 
The Eagles were led on Saturday by sophomore Brandon Washburn. He played remarkably steadily with 13 pars and two birdies through 17 holes. He was +1 coming to the final hole, where he made a double-bogey after his tee ball went OB. "Brandon does not necessarily play a flashy game," said head coach John Rogers, "but he tends to keep the ball in front of him, and this year he has greatly improved his putting. As he continues to pull together all parts of the game, he will give us many more scores like today, and lower."
 
When senior Hayden Hawes had three straight double-bogies in the middle of the round, his score could have easily gotten away. He rallied to play the final eight holes at even par, though, and salvaged an 80.
 
Junior Logan Douthat came out of the fall portion of the season ranked third on the team in scoring, but King & Prince has not suited his game. For the second-straight day he struggled with big numbers and he came in with an uncharacteristic 88. "Logan is a good player, and a very good student as well -- in fact he plans to graduate this spring, a year early," said Rogers. "I think he's got a lot on his plate as he heads towards graduation, and maybe the golf scores are not coming as easily as they usually do. In the end there are things more important than golf, and we have been fortunate to have Logan play with us. During this round last spring he shot 69 and basically locked up our return trip this year, so he already did his job."
 
On a day of favorable scoring conditions, the teams who completed round two improved by an average of ten strokes over the rainy first round. When the Eagles dropped a stroke on Saturday, assistant coach Mike Clark pointed out that the challenges and stresses of a longer trip and a 54-hole event are good for the squad because they face a similar tournament in less than two weeks -- and then the ODAC Championship in April is also three rounds.
 
Briefly during the front nine the Eagles had climbed the board to join several teams inside the top-40 nationally, and Clark said the next step is to extend the flashes of brilliance to full rounds and then to multiple days.
 
Seeded 28th in an ultra-competitive field of 30 teams, the Eagles are currently in 27th with some schools needing to finish the second round. The final round starts at 8 AM on Sunday, with the Eagles moving over to the Oleander Course at Jekyll to complete the event.