Burke Pitz Shoots 6-Under Second Round at MartinFed Invitational

Monday, October 16

Killen, Ala.

All Day

Purdue Fort Wayne

MartinFed Invitational

Burke Pitz

Photo by: Josh Gales

Burke Pitz Shoots 6-Under Second Round at MartinFed Invitational

10/16/2023 7:51:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results

KILLEN, Ala. - The Purdue Fort Wayne men's golf team is in fifth place after the opening day (Monday, Oct. 16) of the MartinFed Invitational. Burke Pitz shot a 6-under 66 in his second round, which ties the second-best round compared to par in program history.

Pitz's 6-under round trails only teammate Kasey Lilly's 7-under 64 from 2021 and ties Zach Schroeder's 6-under effort from 2018. Pitz's historic round was bogey-free and featured six birdies. He had back-to-back birdies on eight and nine shortly after starting his round, then had another on 11 to go to 3-under. After five pars in a row, he birdied 17. After taking a four-hole stretch of pars from the back nine around to the front, he birdied his final two holes of the day, four and five. This was the second time he birdied five, making him 7-under over his final 19 holes of the day. He started his day with five pars and a birdie on 11. Pitz is tied for ninth after his 75-66-141, chasing his first top-10 of the season. His 66 is the best round of his career.

Hunter Mefford nearly matched Pitz in round two, shooting 76-67-143. Mefford started his day with a two-birdie round in the morning. He had a bogey-free front nine before making his second trip through the course. After finishing round one with a birdie, he knocked in three in a row to start round two. After a bogey and a par on nine and 10, Mefford birdied 11 and 13 with a par in the middle. Crusing at 4-under, he parred three in a row then eagled the 548-yard 17th. He birdied hole four before turning in his scorecard, finishing at 67. This tied his career-best, which he had set multiple times. Mefford is tied for 17th with 18 to play.

Lilly was even on Monday, shooting 70-74-144 to tie for 20th after two rounds. After a bogey on his second hole of the day, he rattled off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to move to 3-under. He found two more birdies on the course before starting on his second time through on holes 17 and two. After starting the same way he did in round one, he birdied hole eight to go back to even. Then, Lilly had nine pars in a row from nine to 17. He had three more pars on the front nine before finishing his day.

Redshirt-sophomore Nick Holder shot 76-74-150, and is tied for 46th. He had back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 in round one before finding another birdie on 17. In the afternoon, Holder birdied his starting hole, then another two holes later. He birdied 14 to move back to even and stayed there for three more holes. He birdied one to make up for a bogey on 18, then did the same on five to make up for hole three.

Freshman AJ Agnew shot 75-76-151, with nothing worse than a bogey all day. In round one he birdied hole 17 and in round two he birdied his finishing hole. Agnew finished with 25, which was the seventh-most in the field.

Fellow freshman Brock Reschly played as an individual, turning in 75-74-149. His day featured four birdies in the morning and three in the afternoon.

As a team, Purdue Fort Wayne's 577 is good for fifth through 36 holes, just one shot behind Troy. 2023 NCAA participant Auburn is leading the pack with a two-round total of 558.

The final round of the Mastodons' fall season will fire off on Tuesday morning (Oct. 17).

~ Feel the Rumble ~