Gamecocks, Hall Lead in Aiken at Palmetto Intercollegiate

AIKEN, S.C. — South Carolina has a commanding 10-shot lead over Virginia after 36 holes of the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate. The Gamecocks shot 275 (-5) in round one earlier today and 282 (+2). They are the only team in the field currently under par through two rounds of play.
 
All-American Ryan Hall leads by six shots at 8-under after carding a 64 (-6) in the opening round and a 68 (-2) in round two. The Knoxville, Tenn., native made a field-best 12 birdies today. He also leads the field in par-3 scoring average (-3, 2.63) and par-5 scoring average (-4, 4.00). Hall is seeking his fourth career win tomorrow at historic Palmetto Golf Club which would tie him for second most in program history with All-Americans Keenan Huskey (2014-18), Carl Paulson (1989-93) and Matt NeSmith (2012-16).
 
Junior Jack Wall is T-4^th at even par after carding a par of 70s the first two rounds on Monday. Sophomore Rafe Reynolds is T-10^th at 2-over for the tournament. He’s seeking his first career top-10 on Tuesday. Transfer Evans Lewis also played solid as he is inside the top-20, T-14^th at 3-over for the tournament. Lewis was 4-over at the turn today and shot 2-under coming in with three birdies. Freshman Nathan Franks is T-35^th at 7-over for the tournament.
 
“It was a grind around Palmetto today and The Old Lady showed why par is always a good score out there,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “Ryan’s 64 was incredible this morning, and I thought the entire team fought hard in tough conditions for both rounds. We’ll need to bring that same level of play tomorrow for the final round.”
 
The Gamecocks have already won once this season back in the fall at the J.T. Poston Invitational. A victory tomorrow would mark the eighth time under McDonald the team has posted multiple tournament wins in the same season. It would be the 26^th career victory for McDonald, who is already the winningest coach in program history, in 15 seasons as head ball coach.
 
It’s another shotgun start for the field tomorrow at 9 a.m. (ET). Carolina will tee off on holes one through four again. Live scoring is available for the final round via Golfstat.
 
2022 Palmetto Intercollegiate R2 Leaderboard
1. No. 43 South Carolina – 557 (-3)
2. Virginia – 567 (+7)
3. VCU – 570 (+10)
4. Wofford – 573 (+13)
5. *No. 2 USC Aiken – 574 (+14)
T6. Virginia Tech – 583 (+23)
T6. Presbyterian – 583 (+23)
8. Gardner-Webb – 584 (+24)
9. Charleston Southern – 585 (+25)
10. Samford – 589 (+29)
T11. Furman – 590 (+30)
T11. Temple – 590 (+30)
13. Francis Marion – 592 (+32)
14. High Point – 596 (+36)
15. Dartmouth – 601 (+41)
 
*NCAA Division II Golfstat Ranking
 
2022 Palmetto Intercollegiate Gamecock Leaderboard
1. Ryan Hall – 132 (-8)
T4. Jack Wall – 140 (E)
T10. Rafe Reynolds – 142 (+2)   
T14. Evans Lewis – 143 (+3)     
T35. Nathan Franks – 147 (+7)   
 
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