Golf Moves up a Spot; Ties for Third through Two Rounds at the AAC Championship

Monday, April 22

Palm Harbor, Fla

TBA

Temple University

American Athletic Conference Championship

Photo by: Larry Dougherty

Golf Moves up a Spot; Ties for Third through Two Rounds at the AAC Championship

4.22.19 | Men's Golf

Results

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Redshirt senior John Barone and senior Erik Reisner led the way for Temple as the Owls moved up to a tie for third place with UCF after the second round of play at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship, presented by Air Force Reserve Monday. The Owls are 15 shots behind the leader Memphis, who took control of the championship with a torrid two-under round at the par-71, 7,125-yard Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club.
Recapping the Day

Paired with four-time defending champions USF, the Owls started off red hot and were eight-under through the first six holes. Temple was just two shots behind Memphis at that point.
The Owls had 12 birdies over the first six holes with Barone and senior Trey Wren each accounting for four.
Holes seven through nine killed the momentum for the Cherry and White as the team dropped seven strokes due to five bogeys and two double bogeys.
Reisner, who played the back nine at one-under, and Barone, who was even par down the stretch helped stop the bleeding and kept the Owls in contention for Tuesday's final round.
Barone, who shot a three-over 74 Sunday, finished with a team-best two under 69. He sits tied for seventh overall with a one-over 143.
Reisner, who stumbled on his back nine Sunday to finish with a 75, finished with a one-under 70 and is tied for 15^th overall.
Wren, who was tied for second overall after six holes at -4, finished the day at three-over and is tied for 15^th overall with a 145.
McCabe, who was tied with Wren for the team lead with an even-par 71, made only one birdie for his second round and finished the day with a five-over 76. He is tied for 23^rd overall.
Freshman Conor McGrath rounded out the Temple five with a seven-over 78.

The Field

Memphis (568), with four golfers in the Top 10, owns a seven stroke lead over second place SMU (574).
The Mustangs are followed by Temple (580), UCF (580), USF (583), Cincinnati (586), UConn (591), ECU (592), Houston (595) and Wichita State (597).
The Owls' five-over 289 tied with SMU and UCF for the second best round of the day behind Memphis' 282.
SMU sophomore Mac Meissner (-10) has a seven stroke lead over Memphis senior Brad Bawden (-3) leads the field with a five-under 66.

Quotable

Head coach Brian Quinn on the day: ""The kids played well. They hung in there real tough. I knew Erik was going to play real well today. I always say he is kind of the glue to us. He did a great job today. John really hung in there, played well. Trey had it going early and then he started struggling a little bit with his putting. We definitely gave a few back, but the course is very difficult and the pins were really difficult today so overall I am pleased with where we are at but both days we have left four or five shots slip away from us that if we did everything perfectly we would be in pretty good shape."
Quinn on final round: "We need to come out blazing. If we have one really great round you just never know what happens because this is a really tough golf course. We certainly have kids capable of shooting really great scores. All of them have to play well tomorrow but if they do I think we could have a really good chance to contend.
John Barone on his play: "To be honest warming up I did not feel great. I got on the first tee and did not hit a great drive but I ended up making birdie anyways. Then I followed it up with two bogeys. From there I got cooking a little bit, made a couple of birdies in a row and kind of worked my way into the day. I really relied on my putter a lot. That was what got me through the round, especially on this course where you are going to have to make some six footers for par."
Barone on the course: "It is one of the harder courses we play all year. The (PGA) tour plays it and it is one of the hardest courses they play, but you just have to keep a level head. You cannot go chasing birdies as that is how you make mistakes."
Barone on Owls' chances: "Anything can happen out here. It is one of those courses where one team starts going south another team can make a big move. Nothing is set in stone right now. I am not putting too much pressure on it. I am just going out here and enjoy my last round as a Temple golfer."