Round two of the 24th annual Tennessee Mid-Amateur golf tournament is in the books with a bit of a shakeup at the top of the leaderboard.
After smoking the course with a 7-under par 65 on Wednesday, John Maupin could not find his game Thursday and dropped to second place behind new leader Todd Burgan with a 3-over par 75. Maupin is still 4-under for the tournament.
Burgan, who finished the opening round with a 2-over par 74, lit up the links on day two with a 9-under 63 to move three strokes ahead of Maupin.
“Today was just a grind the whole way around. I just never felt like I was in the swing of things, just trying to hang in there,” said the Lee University golf coach of the tough round.
Jeff Golliher fired a 3-under 69 and stands at 141 after a first round 72. Brandon Cissom took a stroke off his game and ended the day in fourth place after a round of 71 gave him a total of 143. Matt Robertson rounded out the top five after two rounds of even par (144). The three will teed off this morning in the next to last group to go.
Maupin’s day started out rough, literally, after his opening shot landed left of the fairway on No. 10. After a sand save that led to a par, Maupin ran into more trouble on 11, finding the water after trying to blast out of the pine needles behind towering cypress trees.
Looking to get his game back in gear, Maupin found the fairway on No. 15 and looked to turn things around on his back nine. But, the turnaround never materialized and a disappointed Maupin signed his card after losing two more strokes.
“I ended up shooting two over on the back. I made a couple of mistakes today that really got me. The first one was on the second hole (No. 11) making double there. On the first hole on the back, I hit probably my best drive of the day and was in position to get there in two. I ended up making bogey. Those two mistakes really sum it up. Other than that, it was a bunch of pars,” he said.
Along with Cissom, Rick Mays, from Athens, will tee off today tied for 13th after an even par 72 gave him a 147 for the tournament. Cleveland’s Ryan Hulton will also be in the field of 39 and stands in 23rd place after two rounds of 75.
Maupin, Burgan and Golliher started the final round this morning with only four strokes separating the trio.
“I’ve got my work cut out for me tomorrow, but I’m still in the hunt. I think any time you tee it up you just want to have a chance that last day,” said the ever-smiling Maupin. “It looks like Todd really lit it up. But, I’m still in the hunt, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
For a complete list of standings, go to www.tnmidam.com.
