Pawley's Island, S.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore transfer Tyler Jones enters Tuesday's final round just two strokes off the lead, pacing the Catamount scoring five with an 8-under par 136 through 36 holes at the Golfweek Fall Challenge at the par-72, 7,013-yard True Blue Golf Club. WCU (569) slipped into a tie for seventh overall as a team with 18 holes to play.
 
The final round is scheduled for Tuesday morning with tee times off both the front and back nine beginning at 7:30 a.m. Paired with Southern Conference foe Mercer and fellow purple-clad Central Arkansas, the Catamounts scoring five opens on the No. 1 tee in the first groups of the day at 7:30 a.m.
 
GolfStat live scoring of the final 18 holes from coastal South Carolina is available online through GolfStat and linked at CatamountSports.com.
 
Atop the individual leader board after 18 holes following a first-round six-under par 66 on Sunday, Jones fired a 2-under par 70 on Monday but slid two spots to remain on the podium in third with a 36-hole score of 136. After making the turn to the back nine at 4-under par on Sunday, the Jacksonville, N.C., product was 3-under at the halfway point on Monday thanks to a trio of birdies and six pars.
 
Jones birdied the par-5 No. 10 to move to 4-under par for the day before back-to-back bogeys on the par-4 12th and 13th – the first and only blemishes on his opening 36 holes – left him at 2-under for the day. His combined 8-under par 136 has him just two strokes off the lead with 18 holes to play.
 
Jones leads the Catamounts and is tied for the top par-5 scoring 36 holes deep at 7-under (4.30) on the longest layouts. He also has a team-best 10 birdies.
 
Junior Jace Butcher (140) slid 11 spots from the event podium into a tie for 13th overall, following his first-round 5-under par 67 with a 1-over round of 73 on Monday. The Kennesaw, Ga., product rebounded nicely on Monday after stumbling out of the gates with a double-bogey on his first hole of the morning. He countered a second blemish with a bogey on the par-3 seventh with two birdies to turn for home at 1-over. Butcher then played even-par golf over the final nine holes of the day for the 1-over par round of 73.
 
Butcher and Jones are tied with a team-high 24 pars through the opening two rounds.
 
Rounding out the Catamount scoring five is senior Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 48th overall with consecutive scores of 73 to sit in the clubhouse at 143. Junior Andrew Korytoski knocked one stroke off his opening round 76 to shoot 75 Monday for a 36-hole tally of 151, while true freshman Charlie Coe had his best collegiate round with a 1-under par 71 that counted towards the team score, moving into 73rd overall at 153. Coe carded a trio of birdies to overcome one bogey aside.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, redshirt senior Josh Lendach slid over the final six holes of his front nine, falling into a tie for 52nd at 147. A day removed from shooting a 2-under par 70, the Raleigh native was 2-under through three holes after opening on the back nine. However, four bogeys and a costly double-bogey on the par-4 18th left him turning for home at 4-over. His front nine was much quieter, countering two bogeys with a third birdie and six pars for the 5-over par round of 77.
 
First-round leader Georgia Southern continues to hold the top spot two-thirds of the way home in the season-opening event. The Eagles (553) have a seven-stroke edge over Tennessee Tech (560), which leapfrogged North Alabama (561) into the runner-up position on Monday. UNA and Nevada (561) are tied for third with Ball State (564) rounding out the Top Five.
 
Loyola-Chicago (567) is sixth, just ahead of the two-way tie between WCU and Mercer in seventh, two strokes in arrears at 569.
 
Georgia Southern's Harrison Sewell chipped two strokes off his first-round 68 to card the second-lowest score of the second round at 66 to move atop the heap with a score of 134. Sewell holds a stroke edge over Ball State's Samuel Harris (135) and two over WCU's Jones (136) with 18 holes to play.
 
Loyola-Chicago's Charlie Kulwin had Monday's low round with a 65, catapulting 40 spots in the standings into a tie for sixth.
 
Tournament action concludes on Tuesday with golfers hitting the course early at 7:30 a.m. A complete recap will be made available at the conclusion of play.
 
T7 – Western Carolina – 282 – 287 = 569 (-7)
3 – Tyler Jones – 66-70 = 136 (-8)
T13 – Jace Butcher – 67-73 = 140 (-4)
T48 – Ivan Ninkovic – 73-73 = 146 (+2)
T67 – Andrew Korytoski – 76-75 = 151 (+7)
73 – Charlie Coe – 82-71 = 153 (+9)
T52 – Josh Lendach (ind). – 70-77 = 147 (+3)