BOULDER CITY, Nev. — For the second straight day, junior Peyton Mussina shot a sub-par round of golf, and as a result, he became the first Penn College player to make the 36-hole cut and continue into the final two rounds at the NCAA Division III Men's Championship on the sport's biggest stage.
Teamwise, the Wildcats completed play Day 2 on Wednesday with a 304, one shot better than their Tuesday score, for a 609 total and 29th place in a 43-team field. A year ago, they ended 37th.
How it happened: Taking advantage of the par 72, 7,077-yard Legacy Golf Club course, Mussina fired a 3-under 33 on the front 9 and 1-under 35 on the back 9 for a 68. Coupled with his opening-round 69 on the 7,377-yard Boulder Creek Golf Club course, Mussina vaulted into a tie for second at 137, one shot out of first.
Also for the Wildcats on Wednesday, Gavin Baer carded a 74 for a two-day 153 and tied for 125th, Will Orwig shot 82 to finish with a 158 and tied for 169th, Trevor Keaton recorded an 80 to close with a 162 and tied for 191st and Gunner Redmond shot an 87 to finish with a 168 and tied for 205th. Only the low four scores count toward the team total.
The field: A field of 43 teams and 221 golfers was trimmed to 18 teams and 96 golfers. After two rounds, Redlands held the team lead at 563, Kenyon College was second at 565 and Methodist University was third at 566.
Individually, Mike O'Sullivan of Oglethorpe was at the top at 136, followed by Mussina, Jaiden Koonar of Kenyon College and Jackson Klutznick of Emory at 137. Five shots separate the top 10.
Coach speak: "It's awesome. It's awesome," coach Rob Lytle said. "Peyton played well. One bogey for two days is pretty good. He told me it (the bogey Wednesday) fired him up to play hard. He's pretty determined to finish as high as he can. We'll all be out there watching and supporting him."
The key over the final two days for Mussina, Lytle said, will be "patience and keeping the ball in play, which he's done a really good job of."
Up next: Play continues Thursday and Friday for Mussina on the Boulder Creek Golf Club course. His tee time is 9:30 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday.
