CASEYVILLE, Ill. – The McKendree University men's golf team trails first place Maryville by 11 shots to sit in second place out of eight teams midway through the suspended second round of the McKendree Bearcat Dual Gender Tournament held at Far Oaks Golf Club.
 
The second round of the tournament was halted due to darkness after all eight teams has gotten through at least nine holes, with two McKendree's five golfers having completed 11 holes and the other three have played 10 holes. The teams will complete the suspended second round Tuesday morning beginning at 10 a.m., before playing the third and final round.
 
In Monday's opening round of play that started around 9:30 a.m. due to frost conditions on the course, the Bearcats were in second place after shooting a 5-over par 293 in cold and windy conditions on the 6,847-yard Far Oaks course. The temperature did not get above 50 degrees on Monday.  
 
Maryville held the first round lead after shooting a 1-under par 287 and sitting behind Maryville and McKendree on the first round leaderboard in third place were Kentucky Wesleyan and Missouri S&T, who each shot 19-over par scores of 307. Maryville expanded its first round lead to 11 shots after carding a 1-under through 10 holes. McKendree shot a 4-over par through 10 holes in the second round.
 
Leading the way for the Bearcats was senior Phasin Vichitcharoenpaisarn (Bangkok, Thailand/The American School of Bangkok) as he held the lead after the opening round with a 4-under par 68 and was two shots in front both Maryville's Kai Chun Hsu and Kentucky Wesleyan's Tyler Nickol, who each shot opening round scores of 2-under par 70. A fourth golfer, sophomore Griffin St. Pierre (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan), who was playing on McKendree's 'B' Team shot a 1-under par 71 in the opening round to sit in fourth place. Those four golfers were the only ones to shoot under par in the first round.
 
Heading into Tuesday's play, Nickol sits atop the leaderboard as he has shot 3-under par through 10 holes in the second round to hold a three-shot lead over Vichitcharoenpaisarn, who has shot a 2-over par through 10 holes in the second round.
 
In addition to Vichitcharoenpaisarn, freshman Ciaran Paterson (Edinburgh, Scotland/West Calder) fired an opening round score of even-par 72 to sit in a tie for fifth place. Paterson currently sit in a tie for eighth place after shooting a 2-over par through nine holes in the second round.
 
Senior Rasmus Nilsson (Stockholm, Sweden/Danderyds Gymnasium) shot an opening round score of 4-over par 76 to sit in a tie for 13th place. Nilsson currently has shot a 2-over through 10 holes in the second round.
 
Sophomores Thomas Tollefsen (Tonsberg, Norway/Wang Toppidrett Tonsberg) and Fabian Wennerlof (Onsala, Sweden/Katrinelundgymnasiet) each shot first round scores of five-over par 77 to sit in a tie for 17th place. Through 10 holes in the second round, Tollefsen and Wennerlof have each shot even-par through 10 holes to sit tied for 13th place.
 
McKendree also has a 'B' Team competing at its own event and the 'B' Team shot an opening round score of 324 to sit in sixth place. The 'B' Team's five golfers were able finish at least nine holes and are currently sitting in seventh place.
 
Along with St. Pierre, who has shot a 2-over par through 10 holes to sit in seventh place overall, the No. 2 golfer for the 'B' Team in the first round was freshman Thai Prakit (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township), who carded an 82 to sit tied for 31st place. Prakit played 11 holes in the second round and has shot a 13-over par to sit in 45th place.
 
Graduate student Erik Karlsson (Linkoping, Sweden/Bildningscentrum Facetten) fired an opening round score of 84 to sit in a tie for 39th place. In the second round, Karlsson has shot a 7-over par through 11 holes and remains tied for 39th place.
 
Sophomore Garrett Wood (Troy, Ill./Triad) was the fourth counter for the 'B' Team as he shot an 87 in the opening round to sit in a tie for 44th place. Wood has made it through 12 holes in the second round and has shot a 9-over par to sit in 46th place.
 
The final golfer for the 'B' Team was junior Zac Buscher (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) shot an opening round score of 92 to sit in a tie for 47th place. Buscher has played nine holes in the second round and has shot a 2-over par to currently sit in a tie for 43rd place.