Related: Dogwood Invitational Daily Video Coverage
Dawson Armstrong, the 36-hole leader, finished his morning still on top at 15-under-par after scraping together a gritty 2-under-par 70 on the drenched Druid Hills track.
“It was hard. We started getting some really bad rain on 13th tee-box, so literally, a third of the round was in very hard rain and it didn’t let up for the rest of the day. It was just a battle -- I fought hard at the end. The weather really helped the golf course hold its own today.“
In regards to his ball striking today Armstrong added, “I was hitting it horribly all day. I think today was the worst ball striking day all summer. Yeah, definitely all summer. I've got to tighten up on a few things before heading into tomorrow.”
If Armstrong is able to do that, this could well be his tournament to win tomorrow. He has already stated Druid Hills to be “his” course and the numbers don’t lie. In ten competitive rounds at the course, Armstrong is an incredible 47-under-par, giving him a scoring average just shy of 5-under-par.
Friday’s conditions didn’t seem to have any affect on Gaston Bertinotti’s play. The Argentinian, who apparently loves playing golf in the rain, has been extremely solid all week, entering the day at 10-under-par, three back of Armstrong. By the end of the end of the morning, Bertinotti had made four birdies, an eagle, and just one bogey to shoot a 5-under-par 67, his best round of the tournament thus far.
“I didn’t have a good start. We started with a bogey on the 3rd hole,” said Gaston, summarizing his round. “It was pretty tough out there because the fairways were really wet, so the ball was either jumping off the club face or coming out very softly -- I couldn’t make any putts on the front, and then we birdied 11 from a long distance and I told my caddie, my friend, ‘Now were on fire.’”
That fire could not be put out, not even by the heavy cloudbursts that should have been plaguing Bertinotti on a course he has reiterated to be ‘not a good fit for him.’ Instead he was busy stringing together a stretch of 31 shots on the back nine that would have him in a tie with Armstrong, the 2015 champion at the Dogwood, and Lloyd Jefferson Go, the best golfer in the Big East Conference.
Today’s low round came from Charles Kim, who was able to post 65 today. When asked how he was able to go so low in the tough conditions Kim stated, “I started off really hot, every iron shot I hit from the fairway was within 10-15 feet, and from then on it was just all ‘pouring’ in.”
Pun intended or not, he really did make it rain birdies on the back nine, seven in total, which were offset by one bogey on the long par-3 17th that would make for 6-under-par performance. Still, however, being five shots back, Kim will need a streak of brilliance in order to win tomorrow.
Armstrong, Bertinotti, and Go are set to tee off together in Saturday’s final grouping.
Moving Day
Luke Schniederjans has moved within one shot of the lead today after firing a 5-under-par 67.
Timothy Hildebrand and Charles Huntzinger also posted rounds of 67. They 11-under-par, four off the lead.