ChampionsGate, Fla. / ChampionsGate Golf Club-The Robert Morris University men's golf team held on to its two-stroke first round lead at the 2010 Northeast Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon by posting a 304 team total, second best among the field of 10. Three players - junior C.G. Mercatoris (Brookville, Pa. / Brookville), senior Joe Kabana (East Stroudsburg, Pa. / Notre Dame) and freshman Max Cahn (Nyack, N.Y. / Nyack) - find themselves among the top-10 players at the tournament.
Sacred Heart had the best day among the 10 teams, tying the Colonials tournament low round of 300, but sit two shots back of RMU with a 606 total. Saint Francis (Pa.) is third (608) followed by Central Connecticut State ( 615), Fairleigh Dickinson (616), Mount St. Mary's (617), Monmouth (624), Long Island (636), St. Francis (N.Y.) (684) and Wagner (713).
Mercatoris is tied for second after 36 holes, recovering from double-bogey on the first hole to post a two-over par round of 74 at the 6,937-yard layout at ChampionsGate Golf Club. The junior finished the round with 15 pars and a birdie on the par-five 11th hole.
Kabana moved up four spots into a tie for ninth place with a three-over 75 highlighted by birdies on numbers 11 and 17. Cahn has the same 151 total after a 76 on Saturday. An up-and-down round saw him card three birdies along with three bogeys and two double-bogeys.
Robert Morris also counted sophomore Robbie Holdcroft's (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa. / State College) second round 79. He sits in a tie for 32nd. Junior Shawn Courson (Parker, Pa. / Allegheny-Clarion Valley) sits in 34th position after a second round score of 84.
The third and final round of the event tees off at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 2.
