The Eastern men’s golf team is living up to the expectations they had going into the Drake University Zach Johnson invite at Harvester Golf Club in Rhoades, Iowa.

The Panthers currently sit in third place through the first day of play logging a total score of 608. If they can stay in third place and perform well on the final 18 holes tomorrow, Eastern will have its highest finish of the season.

“I feel like we played decent as a team,” Eastern senior golfer Alex Gowin said. “We should’ve been better in the first round, but the second round we played well as a team. Especially since the wind was blowing hard during the second round and the course played much tougher.”

Bradley University is seated in first place with a 13-stroke lead over Eastern and a cumulative score of 595. Following them is Indian Hills Community College who finished with a stroke total of 599 after the first two rounds.

Gowin shared his thoughts on what Eastern would have to do to catch the leading Bradley team.

“We will have to play well … no doubt about it,” Gowin said. “But, it’ll be a good chance for us to win a tournament.”

Individually, the two leading teams, Bradley and Indian Hills, boast the top two golfers after day one.

Bradley’s Drake Bushong is three under par and is the top golfer in the event after one day of play. Indian Hills’ Jakob Bares, who is four strokes behind at one over par, follows him.

For Eastern, sophomore Alvaro Hernandez and freshman Romeo Perez led the team in scoring.

Perez is the team’s leader after two rounds and is in eighth place in the tournament. He shot a 73, one over par, in his first round, rallying off three birdies and 11 pars. He took a slight step back in the second, he again had three birdies, but added six bogeys and one double bogey on the third hole to give him a 77 on the round and elevate his total score to eight over par.

Hernandez is once again showcasing he is one of the top golfers on the team. The sophomore had a fine first round, shooting a 74. However, the second round set him back as well, he had four birdies but erased them with two double bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes. With five bogeys on top of that he finished the second round with a 77.

Gowin is in a tie for 18th place individually with a 79 in the first round and an improved score of 74 in the second.

Eastern’s Charlie Adare had a first round to forget. He shot a team high 84 in the first round, putting three double bogeys on his scorecard. However, he rebounded in a big way shooting a team best 72 in the second round. His second round comeback put him in a tie for 27th place.

Rounding out the group, the Panther’s Grant Miller shot an 82 in the first round and an 83 in the second, putting him in a tie for 48th place.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or jpbullock@eiu.edu