Led by Patrick Wilkes-Krier's school and tournament record-tying round, the Ball State University men's golf team is tied for first at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational.
Wilkes-Krier fired a second round 5-under par 65 to tie the Ball State record for the low 18 hole score with four other players. He also tied the low round at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational, which is being held at Delaware County Club for the second straight year.
"I made a lot of putts," said Wilkes-Krier, who had eight one-putts on the back nine. "I kind of felt like I was in the zone. Once I canned a long one, I felt like I could make anything."
Ball State is tied with Austin-Peay State University at 7-under 553, a new school record two-round total. The Cardinals had four players who broke or tied career-low rounds.
The first round team score of 278 broke the previous school record that lasted until afternoon when the team fired a second round 275.
Princeton is four shots back in third place and is the only other team under par.
"I think it was a total team effort," coach Mike Fleck said. "We mixed and matched our scores pretty well."
Wilkes-Krier bounced back from a first round 72 in the morning by firing a 65 in the second round and is tied for eighth. Yoshio Yamamoto of Austin-Peay also shot a 65 in the second round to tie the tournament record set by Brad Morris of Eastern Kentucky in 2001. Wilkes-Krier's previous career-low round was a 67 at the First Energy Intercollegiate in April.
"For him to put up that number was very timely because scores were going low," Fleck said.
C.D. Hockersmith tied a career-low by carding a first round 68. He is tied for 10th, one shot ahead of teammate Brandon Boomsma (70-70).
Andy Skillman also set a career-best with a 68 in the first round. Skillman shot a 75 in round two and is tied for 22nd, while Wayne Denger is tied for 38th after a second round 69.
Freshman Brian Maurer is playing in his first collegiate tournament and leads the Ball State B team. Maurer shot rounds of 68-72 and is tied for 10th.
Fleck said the warm weather conditions and little wind led to the low scores.
"The conditions were perfect," Fleck said. "It was conducive to low scoring."
The Cards will look to remain atop the 15 team field today. The final round begins at 8:30 a.m.
"Our expectations are to go out and be as competitive as we can be," Fleck said. "We know it's going to be very challenging to play at the level we did [yesterday]. Our goal is to try to go out and compete at the highest level we can and try to walk away with a win."
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