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BURLINGTON, N.C. – Longwood men’s golf put together back-to-back solid rounds to open up the Phoenix Invitational on Monday at the Alamance Country Club.
 
Matthew Lyons led the way with a pair of two-under 69s to tie for 11th in the 93-player field after 36 holes of play.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS:
 
The Lancers are third in the 16-team field after back-to-back rounds below par on the Par 71 course. The team’s 283-279—562 (-6) puts them two shots ahead of both Charleston Southern and Queens, who are tied for fourth. Radford is in sixth at even par. Longwood is 12 shots back of the hosts, Elon, and 15 shots back of the tournament leaders in UNC Wilmington.
 
Lyons was the most consistent on the day by posting a pair of rounds below 70. He opened the day with the low round, 69, where he fired in four birdies.
 
Then, the redshirt-sophomore posted four more birdies in round two for a second 69. He finished the day with a 69-69—138 (-4).
 
Cameron Hardison is also inside the top 20 after tying for 18th at two-under. He also had back-to-back matching rounds, posting one-under 70 each time. He had an eagle along with three birdies in the first round while notching four birdies in round two for a 70-70—140 (-2).
 
Hunter Swidzinski ripped off the low round of the day for the team in round two, firing a four-under 67. He had six birdies in the round, and that allowed him to climb up into a tie for 18th with Hardison after a two-round tally of 73-67—140 (-2).
 
Kai Krishnan came up with a timely opening round with an even-par 71, and the freshman posted a 71-76—147 (+5) to finish the day tied for 57th.
 
David Lafreniere knocked off three strokes from his first round to his second round, finishing the day tied for 71st with a 76-73—149 (+7).
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
“We did both a lot of good and some not-so-good things out there today,” said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. “Fortunately, the good outweighed the bad. I know we made a bunch of birdies, which is fantastic, but I also know we gave most of them back with bogeys or worse. Alamance is definitely a place where you can make bogeys and bigger numbers once in a while, especially when a shot is missed in the wrong spot, but we need to do a better job of putting ourselves in places we can go play from on a more consistent basis. Given how packed the leaderboard is behind us, we’re definitely going to have to do a better job tomorrow in order to hold off the teams chasing us.”
 
“I’m absolutely thrilled for Matt,” Fillman added. “To do all the work he’s done to get back to healthy and, then, to go play the way he did today is very satisfying to see. The only true competitive rounds he’s played in over a year before today were our team qualifiers this fall and at Petersburg a few weeks ago. He was very solid today, and, outside of a couple holes, Cam was as well.”
 
“Kai’s morning round was big because we needed it badly,” Fillman said. “Hunter was great this afternoon and, honestly, could and probably should have been even a few lower. We just need to clean up a couple things for tomorrow’s round. It’s going to take a full-team effort.”
 
FULL RESULTS:
 
1. UNC Wilmington: 275-272—547 (-21)
2. Elon: 282-268—550 (-18)
3. Longwood: 283-279—562 (-6)
T4. Charleston Southern: 283-281—564 (-4)
T4. Queens: 282-282—564 (-4)
6. Radford: 286-282—568 (E)
7. East Carolina: 291-278—569 (+1)
T8. Old Dominion: 292-278—570 (+2)
T8. Gardner-Webb: 288-282—570 (+2)
T8. Presbyterian: 287-283—570 (+2)
11. Francis Marion: 289-287—576 (+8)
12. Long Island: 287-290—577 (+9)
13. Lafayette: 297-284—581 (+13)
14. Dartmouth: 294-289—583 (+15)
15. Temple: 296-289—585 (+17)
16. Western Carolina: 298-289—587 (+19)
 
Individual (Longwood)
T11. Matthew Lyons: 69-69—138 (-4)
T18. Cameron Hardison: 70-70—140 (-2)
T18. Hunter Swidzinski: 73-67—140 (-2)
T57. Kai Krishnan: 71-76—147 (+5)
T71. David Lafreniere: 76-73—149 (+7)
 
UP NEXT:
 
The Lancers tee off for the final round on Tuesday morning, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Live stats are available at GolfGenius.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower
 

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