Anderson leads Central in Graceland men’s golf tourney

Central College

MARYVILLE, MO.—Central College junior Jacob Anderson (junior, Treynor) carded a team-low 74 in the first round of the 36-hole Graceland Invitational Friday.

Anderson is playing for Central’s second unit, the White team, which posted a 309 team score on the par-72 Mozingo Lake Golf Course in Maryville, Mo. Central’s first squad, the Red team, tallied 311.

Standings for the 11-team tourney were not yet available.

Sophomore Jon Prescott (Mendota, Ill.) followed Anderson on the White squad with 75 while junior Bryan Laraia (Ankeny), playing in his first round of varsity competition, led the Red team with 76.

“Bryan, Jacob and Jon shot steady scores and played the course well,” coach Chad Green. “They put themselves in good situations and kept big numbers off the scorecard.”

Joining Laraia on the Red team, senior Justin Livingston (Winterset) shot 77. Sophomores Adam Squires (Waterloo, Columbus HS) and David Watson (San Diego, Calif., Patrick Henry HS) each shot 79 and freshman Jared Nepomuceno (Corona, Calif., Santiago HS) had 80.

Senior Erik Grunder (Wilton) and junior Mike Maller (Davenport, Central HS) both shot 79 for the White unit while sophomore Clay Curwin (Faribault, Minn., Shattuck St. Mary’s HS) shot 80.

“We hit the ball better than our scores showed but our short game killed us,” Green said. “A majority of our golfers missed 3-or-4 footers and you can’t give those up and expect to do well.”

The tourney concludes with an 8 a.m. shotgun start Saturday.