BATH, Mich. – Fort Wayne native and Bishop Dwenger graduate Nick Holder shot a 1-over 72 in the second round of the NCAA Regional on Tuesday (May 16) at the Eagle Eye Golf Course.

Holder’s two-day total of 147 bests the previous Mastodon record at an NCAA Regional: Zach Schroeder’s 151 in 2018.

The course played much more difficult on Tuesday than round one, with blustery winds and tougher pin placements. Through 36 holes, the Mastodons have a 602 team score and possess 13th place.

After a pair of bogeys to start the round, Holder birdied the third hole, a 351-yard par-4 with a tricky approach. It requires a blind approach shot thanks to a large mound with a bunker 30 yards in front of the green. After his 3-over front nine, Holder played great golf on the back nine, turning in a 2-under 34. He started with four pars, then had back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15. On the par-5 14th, he went for the green in two, missed it and went in a bunker, but managed to get up and down for birdie. A hole later, he dropped a 25-foot putt to go back down to 1-over. He finished with three pars in a row. Holder has a team-best 147 through 36 holes and is tied for 56th.

Hunter Mefford shot 77 in his second round for a two-day total of 149. He had 11 pars in the first 13 holes. This included a par on the ninth, a par-4 that runs along a lake dividing the front and back nine. He was pure off the tee and put his second shot on the fringe, then two-putted for par. After a rough stretch of holes from 14-17, he finished the day with a birdie on the 589-yard par-5. 

With the second-best score for the ‘Dons on day two, Burke Pitz shot a 76. He started with a par and a birdie, the latter of which came on a 157-yard par-3 with limited landing space due to the protective green-side bunkers. He landed his tee shot in the middle of the green and sank the putt. Later on, he got a birdie to drop on hole six thanks to his 95-yard approach coming to a stop about a foot from the cup. Pitz also parred 17, the course’s signature hole. The replica of No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass played as the second-toughest hole on Tuesday due to its island green, and Pitz saw the two players in front of him dunk their shots into the water, but he managed to record the green in regulation and make par. Pitz has a two-day total of 151 and is tied for 68th.

After starting his day with four pars in the first five holes, Kasey Lilly finished with an 81. This stretch was capped off with a par on the 189-yard par-3 fifth hole, which played as the toughest hole on the course on Tuesday. It took a long iron off the tee with a pond running under the entire flight of the shot. The wind was gusting right as he stepped up to tee off, then he smartly switched clubs to hit the green. He lagged a putt up near the cup, then drained his second putt for the par. On the back nine, he birdied hole 14, a 560-yard par-5 that was reachable in two with Tuesday’s wind.

Jadden Ousley shot an 83 in his second round, dropping 12 pars and a birdie. He got back-to-back pars on seven and eight, the latter of which required a tactful up-and-down. He was short of a green-side bunker in two, then chipped up and sank a rightward breaking putt to save par. He had a stretch of six pars in seven holes on the back nine, then finished his day with a birdie on the 18th.

Georgia leads the field with a two-day score of 540, including individual leader Ben Van Wyk, who shot 65-68-133.

The Mastodons will tee off for the final round of the NCAA Bath Regional starting at 10:20 a.m. with Ousley and finishing with Holder at 11:04 a.m.