The Troy men’s golf team is in sixth place after the opening two rounds of the Mossy Oak Collegiate, which began Monday, April 13. The tournament is being held at the Mossy Oak Golf Course and features a strong field that includes three teams ranked in the top 20 and ten inside the top 75 nationally.
This result matters for Troy as it demonstrates their ability to compete with some of the best collegiate golf programs in the country. The Trojans improved significantly during Monday’s play, rebounding from a difficult first round to shoot four-under-par in the afternoon session. This performance moved them up seven spots on the leaderboard, leaving them just one shot behind South Alabama for fifth place and five shots back from seventeenth-ranked Alabama.
Thomas Crane led Troy’s efforts with a six-under-par 66 in his second round, highlighted by eight birdies. Lee Poppell and Pablo Gracia also contributed under-par scores of 71 each in round two. Gracia currently leads all players on par-3 holes at two-under-par, while Crane is tied for seventh on par-5s at four-under-par. Collectively, Troy sits tied for third among all teams on par-3s and is eight-under-par as a group on par-5s.
Crane and Poppell are both tied for twentieth place overall at even par through thirty-six holes. Gracia follows closely behind, tied for twenty-eighth after carding four birdies during his second round. Haston Emblom stands tied for fifty-eighth place following rounds of seventy-three and seventy-six, while Lawton Emblom is tied for eighty-fourth after shooting seventy-seven and seventy-eight.
Troy holds a thirteen-shot lead over fifty-first-ranked Cincinnati as well as leads over conference rivals Coastal Carolina, Southern Miss, and ULM heading into Tuesday’s final round. The concluding day will see teams tee off in foursomes starting at eight o’clock in the morning; Troy will be grouped with South Alabama, Memphis, and Kansas State.
