Two Rounds In One

Today was the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships and for the Pirates, the story was simple: the front nine was good, the back nine was not.

Armstrong made the turn at +3, which put the Pirates tied for the overall lead. The back nine, however, turned into a chamber of horrors as Armstrong played the final nine holes at +19, slipping the Pirates into 10th place.

The bright spot is that no team that teed off in the afternoon played the back nine well. North Alabama, which was looking at being in fourth place as late as the 15th hole, blew up to fall below the Pirates and sits in 11th. The magic number is 8 - you want to be in the top 8 to make it to match play - and only two teams out of the current top eight teed off in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, the Pirates tackle the back nine first, teeing off at 7:35 a.m. However, rain showers will be falling overnight, which could certainly affect course conditions and even postpone the start of the round.

One thing is for certain - the Armstrong players miss their sweet tea. But even up here in western Michigan, McDonald's serves it up so the Pirates are headed there tomorrow morning before the round to get a little bit of the comfort of the South. Go Pirates !