Gadsden, Ala. - The Stetson men's golf team opened the Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate, hosted by Jacksonville State University, at 14 over par through a 36-hole marathon Monday to find itself in ninth place.  Junior Sam Ryder (Longwood, Fla.) shot two over par 74 in the morning and then four under par 68 in the afternoon to put himself in a fifth place tie at -2 with one round to go.

Junior Micah Jacobsen (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) also showed excellent improvement from the morning to the afternoon, carding 75-69; he is tied for 14th at even par.  Junior Andrew Schiano (Orlando, Fla.) shot back-to-back 76s, freshman Matt Lawrence (Naples, Fla.) had 74-80 and senior Michael Stewart (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) tallied rounds of 81-78.

Ryder stands six strokes behind leader Dustin Korte of Austin Peay (-8); Tom Robson of host Jacksonville State is second at -5.  Kristjan Einarsson (Nicholls) is third at four under par with Eastern Kentucky's Brian Fister (-3) the only other golfer ahead of Ryder and the two other golfer with whom he is tied at -2.

Austin Peay leads the team race at seven under par, two strokes ahead of host JSU.  Eastern Kentucky (-1), Belmont (+6), Nicholls (+6), Columbus State (+6), Armstrong Atlantic (+9) and High Point (+13) also lead the Hatters (+14) with Utah Valley (+17), Samford (+17), Tennessee Tech (+20), Morehead State (+33) and Tennessee-Martin (+35) rounding out the field.

The Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate concludes tomorrow with the final round at Silver Lakes Golf Club.