WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –
Brandon Berry finished his second round with three birdies over the last six holes on Monday afternoon, to card the lowest score of his collegiate career as the Loyola University Maryland golf team ended the first two rounds of the Old Town Collegiate Invitational in a tie for 12
th.
Playing against nine teams ranked in the top-100 nationally, Loyola shot 3-under 277 in the second round on the 6,966-yard, par-70 Old Town Club Course, seven strokes better than it was in the morning 18.
Berry was 2-over in the first round and tied for 52
nd overall, but he birdied two of the first four holes during the second round to get back to even for the tournament.
A birdie at on the 17
th hole – Loyola started both rounds from the back nine – took him a stroke under par, but he gave that shot back with a bogey on the third, his 12
th hole of the round. Berry bounced right back with a birdie on the 526-yard, par-5 fourth hole and then birdied the par-4 seventh and eighth holes to get to 5-under for the round.
The 65 was the lowest score of his collegiate career by stroke total. His previous best was a 66 (6-under on a par-72 course) at the Autotrader Collegiate Classic at Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth, Georgia, during the fall of 2018.
Berry finished the day tied for 21
st place, but he was not the only Loyola player with solid rounds.
Matt Malits shot a pair of even-par 70s to tie for 37
th, and
Connor McGarrity made his collegiate debut by shooting 73-70 and is tied for 55
th at 3-over. Malits had 16 pars in the first round, followed by a second round with three birdies and equal number of bogeys.
Brett Inserra and
Carlo Pizzano both closed the day at 4-over 144, tying for 61
st. Inserra birdied two of the last five holes during the first round to shoot an even-par 70.
Host Wake Forest leads the event at 28-under, while Duke is second at 20-under.
The Greyhounds will get underway in the final round on Tuesday at 8 a.m., playing the back nine first while partnered with players from Kentucky and Rutgers.
