ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — The Milligan men's golf team began play at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament hosted at the Barnsley Resort on Monday afternoon. The Buffs played the first two rounds of the three-day event on the Fazio-designed course. After 36 holes, Milligan sits in second place on the team leaderboard, nine strokes back of No. 2-ranked Reinhardt. Individually, Francisco de Bethencourt leads the tournament after consistent play on a difficult course, while Manuel Gutierrez also surged into the top five at T-5th. Aidan Sinclair is also in the top 20 at T-15th, looking to make a push for an individual NAIA qualification in round three, and Evan Caldwell sits at T-20th.

De Bethencourt began the day by managing a tough front nine that had an average score of six over par from the field, carding eight pars and a birdie to start one under par. On the back nine of the first round, he played slightly more up and down with two birdies and three bogeys, finishing the first round with an even-par 72. In the second round, he started with two bogeys on the first three holes, but maintained his composure by firing back-to-back birdies. Overall, he finished with five birdies and six bogeys in round two to post a one-over-par 73, leaving him at one over par overall after shooting even par in round one, which was good enough to lead the tournament by a stroke over second.

Gutierrez also impressed, sitting in a tie for fifth place after two rounds with a five-over-par 149 combined stroke total. In round one he posted 11 pars on his way to a three-over-par 75, and in round two he shaved one stroke off that total with a two-over-par 74. Gutierrez will look for a strong third round to hold his spot in the top five, as six golfers sit just one stroke behind him at six over par on the leaderboard.

Sinclair, who played in Milligan's top slot after lights-out performances in both the Koala Classic and Northeast Tennessee Spring Shootout, struggled in the opening round but found his footing with a strong second round to keep his name in the mix inside the top 20 of the leaderboard. He started round one with three bogeys in the first four holes and continued to battle a difficult course, bogeying four more times while also recording both a double and a triple bogey on his way to an 11-over-par 83. However, he came out with a chip on his shoulder in the second round, recording only one bogey while stepping up to birdie three times and carding 14 pars to finish round two with a two-under-par 70. With the impressive second round performance, he sits just four shots back of the top five at +9.

Caldwell got his day started with a solid opening round, carding a seven-over-par 79. He did have a double bogey on the par-three 17th hole, which proved costly on an otherwise steady round. In round two he improved his score by shaving three strokes off his round one total with a four-over-par 76. He once again had just one double bogey in the round, this time on the seventh hole, which played to an average of 0.61 strokes above par from the field. Overall, his combined 11-over-par score put him inside the top 20 after two rounds.

Hjalmar Liljenberg (57th, 87-84) played the event as an individual and closed out the list of competitors for the Buffs.

Milligan's 26-over-par score after the first two rounds puts them six strokes ahead of third-place Truett McConnell and nine strokes behind leaders Reinhardt. The Buffs will look to make a push for the top of the leaderboard when play resumes with a third and final round tomorrow, April 21.
 
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