MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State opened the 2019 ASU Spring Golf Kickoff with an emphatic statement, with the men in first place and the Lady Hornets in second at Lagoon Park Golf Course.

Freshman Ben Swaffield opened the day with an ace on the 192-yard, eighth hole. Swaffield finished the day in second place on the overall leaderboard at even par (70 – 74 = 144). The Queensland, Australia native, who recorded a hole-in-one competitively on one other occasion in Australia, used a five iron on the lengthy par-three, recording his first ace at Alabama State. Fellow freshman Abigail Pederson also notched an ace for the Lady Hornets during the first tournament of the season.

 Austin Dobrescu of Chicago State leads the field following a 36-hole score of three-under par. The Hornets are in first-place and lead second-place Western Illinois by nine strokes.

Kei Harris paced the women after turning in at +7 (75 – 76 = 151) and is one shot behind leader Sophia Rohleder (Evansville). The Lady Hornets trail Evansville by four strokes heading into tomorrow's final round.

Noteworthy
Senior Mbongeni Maphosa Jr. fired the lowest nine-hole score of any Hornet, carding a 33 on the front-nine of his final round. Maphosa Jr.'s 72 on his final 18 holes propelled him up the leaderboard to a current tie for 12th place. Sophomore Afnan Chowdhury is tied for third-place overall after matching Maphosa Jr. with a 72 on the final 18 holes and stands within striking distance of the overall leader at a cumulative three-over par. Thomas Caddell and Thacher Neal (+8) also turned in a 12th place result, giving Alabama State four golfers in the top-15. Noel Sims is tied for 24th after firing a second round 77.
 
Pederson joined Harris in the top-10 with a score of 78 in the second round, placing the Menlo Park, Calif. native in sixth-place overall. Mack Bailey and Jade Sanders each shot an opening round 78 and find themselves in a tie for ninth-place. Shania Jones (13th) and Tia Kimbrough (18th) rounded out the standings for the Lady Hornets.
 
What's Next
Alabama State and the rest of the field will close out the 2019 ASU Spring Golf Kickoff with a shotgun start at 7:30 am and will play one final round (18 holes).
 
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