Hartwell, Ga. – The Western Carolina men's golf team and sophomore striker Pierre Viallaneix both slipped into second place after 36 completed holes on Monday at the 2020 J.T. Poston Invitational at the par-71, 6,550-yard Cateechee Golf Club. Viallaneix leads the Catamounts with a two-round score of 4-under par 138, just two strokes off the individual medalist pace while WCU is six strokes in arrears in the team race, tied with longtime rival Appalachian State.
 
The Catamounts dropped into the runner-up spot as a team with 18 holes to play despite having three individuals among the top 10 in the standings after 36 holes. First-round leader Viallaneix remains near the top of the leaderboard, while junior Tumi Kúld climbed six spots into a five-way tie for ninth that includes his classmate Louis Theys at even-par 142 to lead WCU.
 
Making the turn to the back nine on Monday at 2-over par, Viallaneix sat at 5-over par for the day with four holes remaining. However, for a second-consecutive day the Apopka, Fla., product returned to the clubhouse with a 2-under finish, carding birdies on the par-4 15th and par-5 17th to shoot 3-over par 74 and jump back into the runner-up position.
 
All told, Viallaniex is tied for the tournament lead with 12 birdies over the first 36 holes that include a strong nine birdie opening round.
 
Kúld had a relatively quiet second round on the scorecard, starting with a birdie followed by a double-bogey on the par-3 second. He returned to even-par with a birdie on No. 9 before again moving to 1-under on the par-4 11th. He immediately answered a bogey on the par-3 16th with his fourth birdie of the day, giving him eight birdies over two rounds.
 
After shooting 4-under 67 on Sunday, Theys was 4-over 75 on Monday to slide into the tie for ninth-place overall in the standings. He has nine birdies over the first 36 holes including six on Sunday and three in the second round.
 
Sophomore Magnus Pedersen was WCU's biggest gainer on the day, advancing eight spots into a three-way tie for 14th at 1-over par, 143. The Moss, Norway, native followed his 2-over par opening round 73 with a season-low round of 1-under par 70. Pedersen was hot out of the tee box in round two, scoring a birdie on four of his first six holes, making the turn to the back nine at 4-under par. He closed the round with a fifth birdie – his 10th of the event – on the par-4 12th but was hampered by four bogeys over the final nine holes.
 
Freshman Presten Richardson moved up five spots into 24th overall with a career-best round of 2-over par, 73, countering six bogeys with four birdies. He and Kúld have a team-best 21 pars through two rounds of play. Rounding out WCU's scorers is sophomore Quinton Metz in 37th overall with a two-day total of 161 (78-83).
 
Tied for third after the opening round, fellow Southern Conference member Chattanooga jumped to the top of the leader board by trimming nine strokes off its second round, posting the best team score of the tournament so far with a 10-under par round of 274. The Mocs occupy two of the top four individuals including tournament leader, A.J. Lintunen (-6, 136).
 
WCU is tied with rival Appalachian State for second with matching team scores of 5-under par 563. Piedmont College (575) jumped to fourth followed by Mercer (578) and Central Arkansas (581) to round out the six-team field.
 
Tuesday's final round opens with tee-times off the front nine starting at 8:00 am with teams again playing in threesomes among their roster. WCU's golfers hit the course beginning at 9:30 am. Live scoring is available online through GolfStat.com.
 
 
2020 J.T. Poston Invitational at Cateechee – Thru Round 2:
1 – Chattanooga – 283-274 = 557 (-11)
T2 – Western Carolina – 276-287 = 563 (-5)
T2 – Appalachian State – 278-285 = 563 (-5)
4 – Piedmont College – 287-288 = 575 (+7)
5 – Mercer – 283-295 = 578 (+10)
6 – Central Arkansas – 288-293 = 581 (+13)
 
T2 – Western Carolina – 276-287 = 563 (-5)
2 – Pierre Viallaneix – 64-74 = 138 (-4)
T9 – Louis Theys – 67-75 = 142 (E)
T9 – Tumi Kúld – 72-70 = 142 (E)
T14 – Magnus Pedersen – 73-70 = 143 (+1)
24 – Presten Richardson – 75-73 = 148 (+6)
37 – Quinton Metz – 78-83 = 161 (+19)