MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – A six-stroke improvement has the West Virginia University golf team sitting tied for seventh place after 36 holes of competition at the Tiger Turning Stone Intercollegiate, hosted by Missouri at the Kaluhyat Course at Turning Stone Resort on Verona, New York, on Sunday.
In their first varsity tournament since 1982, the Mountaineers carded a team score of 300 (+12) to finish the first round in eighth place. They proceeded to shave six strokes off their first round score, shooting a 294 (+6) to finish the first two rounds with a team score of 594 for 18 over par. WVU is tied with Seton Hall for seventh place, and the two sit 23 strokes behind team leader Missouri, who shot 571 to finish five under on the day.
Freshman Max Sear is in position for a top-10 finish at the event, sitting eighth through 36 holes. Sear carded a first-round score of 70 to finish two under par, before shooting a 73 (+1) in his second round to tie for eighth place with a two-round score of 134 (-1) at the conclusion of the first day.
“I could not ask for more out of a true freshman on his first day of college golf than what Max did today,” said WVU coach Sean Covich. “That’s a great sign for our future. I’m also proud of Jon (Ransone) for the solid effort today. I think we were all a little anxious to play our first event. Now that we’re gotten that out of the way, I hope to play our best round tomorrow.”
Jon Ransone sits just outside the top-25, registering a total score of 148 for four over par. Ransone shot a 76 (+4) in the first round before shaving four strokes off his second round score to finish even at 72. He is tied for 26th overall.
West Virginia native Alan Cooke is T-40th with a two-round score of 152 (+8). Cooke shot a 78 to finish six over par after the first round and improved to two over with a 74 on the final 18 holes of the day.
Teammate Avery Schneider is three strokes behind Cooke, ranking T-52nd (+11) after the first two rounds. Scheinder carded an 80 (+8) in the first round before finishing three over par with a 75 in the second for a total score of 155 at the end of the day.
Chris Williams is T-71st after shooting a 159 for 15 over par. Williams was four over with a 76 after the first round, but struggled in the second and finished nine over with an 83.
Playing as an individual, Tae Wan Lee is 21 over and tied for 79th place after two rounds. Lee carded a 90 (+18) and a 75 (+3) for a total score of 165.
The Mountaineers will play the final 18 holes of the tournament on Monday. The tournament tees off in a shot gun start at 8 a.m.
WVU Results
T-8. Max Sear: 70-74=143 (-1)
T-26. Jon Ransone: 76-72=148 (+4)
T-40. Alan Cooke: 78-74=152 (+8)
T-52. Avery Schneider: 80-75=155 (+11)
T-71. Chris Williams: 76-833=159 (+15)
T-79. Tae Wan Lee: 90-75=165 (+21)
T-7. Team: 300-294=594 (+18)
