The Troy men’s golf team finished the opening two rounds of the Irish Creek Intercollegiate in second place on Apr. 6, following a strong performance at The Club at Irish Creek. The tournament is hosted by Appalachian State.
This result places Troy eight shots behind Catawba, which leads the field after two rounds. The Trojans are just one shot ahead of Old Dominion and App State, while Presbyterian sits ten shots back in fifth place.
In Monday’s afternoon session, three Troy golfers—Thomas Crane and Lee Poppell with scores of 68 each, and Pablo Gracia with a 69—helped the team climb three spots on the leaderboard. Together, they recorded 16 birdies during their second round. Gracia ended the day tied for third overall after shooting even par in the morning round with three birdies and three bogeys. Crane is tied for thirteenth place, two shots behind Gracia, while Poppell stands tied for sixteenth at one-over-par for the day.
Other notable performances included Lawton Emblom finishing tied for twenty-second at three-over-par after making three birdies. His brother Haston Emblom is tied for forty-seventh at seven-over-par with five birdies on his card. Playing as individuals, Grant Yerger and Pierce Becker finished tied for twenty-seventh and thirty-second respectively.
Troy ended Monday with thirty total birdies—the second most among all teams—and only one double-bogey, which was fewer than any other competitor by a margin of three. Individually, Poppell was three-under-par on par fours to tie for best in that category across all players; Crane’s eight birdies were also among the top marks.
The Trojans will compete in Tuesday’s final round as part of the lead group alongside Catawba, Old Dominion and App State starting from hole one at 8 a.m.
