Awendaw, S.C. – Junior Ivan Ninkovic climbed 10 spots on Monday into a tie with freshman teammate Chase Cline in 28th place to lead Western Carolina men's golf at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, co-hosted by South Carolina and the College of Charleston at the par-72, 7,282-yard Bulls Bay Golf Club. WCU slid into 15th place after 36 holes of play.
 
Paired with golfers from Rutgers and Virginia Tech, WCU's scoring five again hits the course on the back nine on Tuesday beginning at 9:30 a.m. Live scoring through the Scoreboard app powered by Clippd is available through a link online at CatamountSports.com.
 
After shooting even-par on Sunday, Ninkovic cut a stroke off his second-round score to shoot 1-under par 71 for a two-day total of 143. The Pula, Croatia, product countered three bogeys with four birdies to give him nine birdies over 36 holes as he played the back nine even-par before shooting 1-under on the front. Ninkovic ranks fourth in the tournament field in par-4 scoring at 4-under par (3.75).
 
Cline carded a trio of birdies for the second-straight round, countering three bogeys in posting an even-par second round. He opened the day with six straight pars on the back nine before a birdie on the par-4 16th and made the turn at 1-under par. He shot 1-over on the front nine to finish even for the day.
 
Junior Callum Waugh moved up four spots by shooting a stroke better over the second 18 holes, backing up his first-round 74 with a 73 on Monday. Waugh carded four birdies to counter a trio of bogeys and one double-bogey, giving him six birdies between the two days.
 
Round out WCU's scoring five is sophomore Jace Butcher, who slipped into a tie for 66th overall with a two-day score of 148. After carding a 1-under par 71 on Sunday, he posted a five-over par round of 77 in the second 18 holes. He has three birdies over 36 holes. Sophomore Michael Bevins matched his first-round score of 81 with another 81 on Monday to sit in 83rd overall.
 
No. 39 Purdue continues to lead the field, carrying a six-stroke lead over second-place Furman, 554-to-560, into Tuesday's final round. Co-host College of Charleston (560) jumped into a tie with the Paladins, advancing four positions in Monday's second round. No. 18 South Carolina (564) is just 10 strokes off the pace in fourth with Missouri climbing three spots into fifth at 566.
 
Jenson Forrester of Purdue advanced five spots to atop the individual leaderboard on Monday, following his opening 4-under round with a round of 6-under par on Monday to take a one-stroke edge over first-round leader Clark Akers of Furman
 
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15 – Western Carolina – 288 – 293 = 581 (+5)
T28 – Ivan Ninkovic – 72-71 = 143 (-1)
T28 – Chase Cline – 71-72 = 143 (-1)
T61 – Callum Waugh -74-73 = 147 (+3)
T66 – Jace Butcher – 71-77 = 148 (+4)
83 – Michael Bevins – 81-81 = 162 (+18)