ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The No. 12 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team sits in second place out of 18 teams following two rounds Monday at the LMU Spring Kickoff, posting a team score of 583 (+7) and trailing No. 8 St. Mary's (Texas) by nine strokes heading into the final day.

North Georgia opened with a 295 (+7) in round one before improving to an even-par 288 in round two to remain near the top of the leaderboard.

No. 10 Catawba, No. 7 Georgia Southwestern and Flagler round out the top five in the team standings. 

Colby Bennett led the Nighthawks, finishing the day tied for seventh at 145 (+1) after rounds of 74 (+2) and 71 (-1). Grant Langford and Hunter Smith are both tied for 12th at 146 (+2). Langford recorded back-to-back rounds of 73 (+1), while Smith rebounded from a 76 (+4) in the opening round with a team-best 70 (-2) in round two.

Kai Marko sits tied for 19th at 148 (+4) after posting rounds of 74 (+2) and 74 (+2), while Rhett Smith is tied for 39th at 152 (+8) following scores of 74 (+2) and 78 (+6).

Competing as individuals, Garrett Horton is tied for 19th at 148 (+4) with rounds of 75 (+3) and 73 (+1), and Jack Rowe is tied for 39th at 152 (+8) after carding 78 (+6) and 74 (+2).

Baptiste Touchard and Guillaume Paquette of St. Mary's sit atop the individual leaderboard at four and two under respectively as the duo was two of the only three players in the 99-player field to post red scores after 36 holes. 

The tournament concludes Tuesday, Feb. 10, with a shotgun start to the final round where North Georgia will be paired with St. Mary's, Catawba and Georgia Southwestern.