Brand Leads Men’s Golf at Elon Phoenix Invitational

Monday, October 16

Burlington, N.C. / Alamance Country Club

8:30 AM

Dartmouth College

Elon Phoenix Invitational

Justin Lee shaved five strokes off his first-round score in the afternoon.

Photo by: Andy Mead

Brand Leads Men’s Golf at Elon Phoenix Invitational

10/16/2023 7:09:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results (PDF)

The freshman finished the first two rounds at 3-under par

By: Rick Bender

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Tyler Brand carded a 71-68—139 (-3) over the first two rounds of the Elon Phoenix Invitational, allowing the Dartmouth freshman to wrap up the day in a tie for 14th place, six strokes off the pace. The Big Green shot 17-over par (585) as a team to place 15th in the 16-team field of predominantly Southern colleges.

Western Carolina edged out host Elon by a stroke to claim the lead at the end of the day with a 19-under 549, and Presbyterian finished in third at 13-under par. One of Dartmouth's playing partners in the second round, Queens University of Charlotte, turned in the best single-round score with a 268 (-16) while playing with the Big Green, shaving 29 strokes from its initial effort to climb seven places in the team standings into eighth.

After a very consistent 18 to start the day featuring 14 pars on the 6,871-yard, par-71 course at Alamance Country Club, Brand started the second round in the hole with a bogey. But he quickly shook that off and sank six birdies before reaching the clubhouse to get to 3-under in the round and the tournament.

Brand was one of four Dartmouth golfers to shave strokes from their first tour of the course, including Alex Gu. The senior shot a 75 (+4) to start the day, then dropped a trio of birdies and a dozen pars in shooting even par over the second 18, tying for 57th in the 95-player field with a 4-over 146.

Two strokes behind Gu was sophomore Aaron Zhang with five birdies to his credit over the 36 holes as he carded a 75-73—148 (+6) to tie for 66th, while junior Justin Lee had the biggest swing, knocking five strokes off his first effort to shoot a 77 (+6) in the afternoon to contribute to the team score.

Sophomore Fin Szafnauer, shaking off an injury that popped up in the practice round yesterday, produced a 4-over 75 in the morning with the help of a pair of birdies.

"Tyler played really well today, but Fin really gutted it out on the course to help the team," said Rich Parker, the Bill Johnson Head Coach of Men's Golf. "Although injuries have made this a tough fall, some of the younger players are getting the chance to build on their opportunities in a competitive environment."

Presbyterian's Jack Wofford has a two-stroke lead going into the final round at 9-under par (67-66—133), beating out a trio of golfers at 7-under — Elon's Garrett Risner, Appalachian State's Addison Beam and Western Carolina's Magnus Pedersen.

The final round of the tournament will begin Tuesday at 8 a.m. with live stats available on the Golfstat website.