MAC Championships: Zips Fire 297 (+9) Opening Round, Enters Second Round Tied for Second Place

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Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Akron Zips fired a 297 (+9) opening round score at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Men's Golf Championships at Sycamore Hills Golf Club on Friday morning.

The Zips enter the second 18-hole round of the day ranked tied for second place with Miami as Akron senior George Baylis (Ascot, England) fired an even-par 72 score to lead the Zips. Baylis currently ranks tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard.

Baylis was 2-over on the first nine and 2-under on the back nine. He cruised through the first three holes with par scores but fell a stroke back on the fourth hole and again on the seventh hole. He scored par on the final two holes to finish the initial nine holes with seven pars.

On the second nine, Baylis got a stroke back on the second hole with his first birdie of the day. After two more pars, Baylis recorded his second birdie of the day and finished the round with four straight pars. On the first 18-holes played, Baylis carded 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys.

Sophomore Mitchell McFarland (Wheelersburg, Ohio) was second in first-round scoring for Akron with a 1-over effort. He carded 14 pars, two birdies, a bogey and a double bogey en route to a 73-stroke performance. He currently ranks tied for seventh overall.

McFarland fell two strokes behind after the double bogey on the fourth hole, but immediately followed with a birdie on five. He finished the first nine holes with four-straight pars for a 1-over score. On the back, he registered three pars before a bogey and birdie and finished the round another four-straight par run.

Junior Jacob Appleby (North Canton, Ohio) posted a 2-over par 74 score to start the MAC Championships. He enters the second round tied at ninth overall after carding 11 pars, three birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey.

Rounding out the Zips' scoring were juniors Elliott Grayson (Shelby, N.C.) and Jacob Morgan (Lafayette, Ga.). Grayson entered a 78 (+5) first-round total while Morgan finished with an 80 (+8) tally.

The second round of the MAC Championships is currently underway. Fans can follow the action via GolfStat Live Scoring.

MAC Championships Facts

Kent State is looking for its third straight MAC championship. The Golden Flashes defended their title last year, while Ball State was the runner-up. Kent State enters this year's event as the 22nd-ranked team in the country.

This year's field features the past three MAC individual champions -- Ball State's Johnny Watts (2015), who won as a freshman, Akron's George Baylis (2016) and Kent State's Gisli Sveinberggson (2017).

Kent State senior Ian Holt is the 19th-ranked player in the country and is one of four golfers in this year's field ranked among the top 150. He owns a 70.67 scoring average and four top-3 finishes this year, including a win at Minnesota's Gopher Invitational.

Miami's Patrick Flavin, who finished runner-up at last year's MAC Championships, has won a remarkable four times in 10 stroke play starts this year. He owns the Miami record with eight career tournament titles.

Flavin swept last summer's Illinois Open and Illinois Amateur championships, while Ball State's Michael Makris nearly pulled off the same feat in Indiana. Makris won the state amateur and finished third at the state open.

Numerous MAC individual champions from the recent past have gone on to play on the PGA Tour. Among them are major champion Ben Curtis and current tour players Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.

The team and individual winners of the MAC Championships earn automatic berths into the NCAA Championships. Last year's MAC champion Kent State finished second at its NCAA Regional to advance to the NCAA Nationals.

The MAC Men's Golf Championships date back to 1947. This year's event will be just the sixth to be held in the state of Indiana and the first in the Fort Wayne area.

The University of Akron Athletics

MAC Championships: Zips Fire 297 (+9) Opening Round, Enters Second Round Tied for Second Place

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Players Mentioned

Jacob Appleby

George Baylis

Elliott Grayson

Mitchell McFarland

Jacob Morgan

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