April 20, 2011

FORT LEE, VA - The 316-yard, par-4 10th hole at The Cardinal Golf Club offered players a choice during the first round of the CIAA Golf Championships on Wednesday.

Blast a drive toward the green, taking the water that lines the left side of the fairway into play, and hope to have enough on it to cut through a 23-mph wind.

Or lay up with a hybrid or an iron off the tee.

Virginia State's Mike Swope went for it.

Swope drove the green of the dogleg left, then marched up and drained the putt for an eagle, putting together a brilliant 3-under-par 69 to lead Virginia Union's Mason Simpson by two shots entering the final round on Thursday.

Swope enjoyed a round with an eagle, three birdies and just two bogeys as he led defending CIAA champion Virginia State to top of the team leaderboard as well. The Trojans (301) had six players among the top 10 and ties to build a seven-shot lead over Winston-Salem State (308). Chowan was third at 319 while Fayetteville State was fourth at 322.

Virginia Union (345) was fifth, Livingstone (349) was sixth and St. Augustine's (368) was seventh with Johnson C. Smith (394), Elizabeth City State (394) and St. Paul's (471) rounding out the standings.

Swope started the day with a bogey on the first hole, and then fell to 2-over through four holes after another bogey. But he birdied No. 5 and No. 7 and finished the front nine even. He then made the shot of the day and the putt of the day on 10, and after a string of pars, he birdied 15 and closed with a back nine of 33.

Simpson played his way into second place on the back nine. After going out in 2-over 38, Simpson rallied with birdies at 13, 14 and 15 to make a charge up the leaderboard. He finished with a 1-under 71 to keep Swope from running away with it.

Fayetteville State's John Cole, who won the recent CIAA Northern Division Tournament at nearby Lake Chesdin Golf Course in Chesterfield, VA on March 22, finished with a tidy 1-over 73 to share third place with Winston-Salem State's Glendon Mabe.

Virginia State's Stuart Larus and Brian Wood joined Winston-Salem State's Zack Sheets and Jordan Lamb and Chowan's Cliff Forbes in a tie for fifth after 5-over 77s. The Trojans' Stephen Grenchi was another stroke back after a 78.

The final round will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday. Follow a live leaderboard at http://hbculivestats.com/ciaa/golf/xlive.htm