St. John Fisher College takes a 14-shot lead into the final two rounds of the 2011-12 Empire 8 Men’s Golf Championship, which concludes with the third and fourth rounds at the Hershey Country Club East Course in Hershey, PA on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cardinals, which have won six of the last seven conference titles, posted the top scores in each of the first two rounds (294 and 297) for a 591 total and a 14-shot lead over Elmira College. Tyler McArdell of St. John Fisher leads the individual event by six strokes after rounds of 69 and 71 on the Yahnundasis Golf Club Course in September. Thad Wier III of the Cardinals is tied for fourth place with a 148 total on back-to-back rounds of 74.
Elmira shot a second-round 301 to move from fourth place after the first round to second place. Nick Decker shot rounds of 74 and 72 in the fall portion of the championship and is tied for second place. Howie Fleischman (75-77) and Paul Wells (79-73) of the Soaring Eagles are tied for 10th place.
Three strokes separate third-place Moravian College (611) and Scranton University (614). Chris Schank of Scranton shares second place individually after fall tournament rounds of 74 and 72. Scott Stires and Tom Fenyak of Moravian are tied for fourth place with a 148 total.
The top five scorers who played all four rounds at the end of the tournament will earn first-team all-conference honors with the next five finishers being named to the second team.