Madison, Wis. – Western Carolina men's golf knocked six strokes off its opening round score but slipped to 16th after Monday's second round at the 2023 Badger Invitational with a two-round score of 593. Upperclassmen Magnus Pedersen in a tie for 27th and Pablo Hernandez in 36th pace the Catamount scoring five through 36 holes.
 
Pedersen and Hernandez both posted second-round scores of 1-over par-73 on Monday. Pedersen countered six bogeys with five birdies, sliding six positions in round two. Hernandez posted a much quieter second round with three bogeys against two birdies for his 1-over par round, slipping into a tie for 36th overall.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five is sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic, up four spots into a tie for 65th after trimming four strokes off his second 18 holes, shooting 73 for a two-day total of 150. Freshman Andrew Korytoski moved up two spots into a tie for 75th after carding a 75 on Monday, while classmate Dalton Payne is 90th at 164 (81-83).
 
First-round team leader Florida Gulf Coast continues to pace the field after two rounds, though its lead has been reduced to five strokes over second-place Nebraska, 560-to-565. Middle Tennessee sits in third, six strokes off the pace at 566, with VCU (568) and Illinois State (571) rounding out the top five.
 
VCU's Veikka Viskari followed an opening-round 4-under par 68 with a 3-under par 69 in the second round to move atop the individual leaderboard by one stroke over runner-up Zach Little of Central Arkansas, 137-to-138.
 
Action concludes in the team tournament on Tuesday with the third round of the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin. Live scoring through Leaderboard King is available online.
 
In the individual-only tournament at TPC Wisconsin, WCU freshman Jace Butcher (pictured) came home in a tie for 16th with a three-round score of 228. He matched his second-round 4-over par 75 with an identical final round on Tuesday, countering three bogeys and one double-bogey with a birdie.
 
Thomas Salanito of FGCU won the Badger Invitational by a stroke over a two-way tie for second between Will Troy of Illinois State and Marquette's Mason Schmidtke, 211-to-212.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
 
2023 Badger Invitational (Par-72)
16 – Western Carolina – 299 – 293 = 593 (+17)
T27 – Magnus Pedersen – 71 – 73 = 144 (E)
T36 – Pablo Hernandez – 72 – 73 = 145 (+1)
T65 – Ivan Ninkovic – 77 – 73 = 150 (+6)
T75 – Andrew Korytoski – 79 – 75 = 154 (+10)
90 – Dalton Payne – 81—83 = 164 (+20)
 
2023 Badger Individual (Par-71)
T16 – Jace Butcher – 78 – 75 – 75 = 228 (+15)