ALBANY, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's golf team sits tied for seventh following the first two rounds of the 2024 Hurricane Invitational hosted by Georgia Southwestern at Doublegate Country Club in Albany, Ga.  The Blazers carded rounds of 290 and 289 for a 579 score.  North Georgia leads the 15-team field with a 15-under 561 heading into Tuesday's final round. 
 
The Blazers, who are among others receiving votes in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Division II Top 25, sit tied with No. 12 South Carolina-Aiken.  Following the Nighthawks, who are ranked No. 2 nationally, is No. 3 West Florida with a 10-under 566, followed by No. 6 Lincoln Memorial (568), No. 5 Georgia Southwestern (571) and Anderson (RV) rounds out the top five at 573.  No. 10 Lee is sixth at 574, followed by the Blazers and Pacers.  
 
No. 19 Columbus State is ninth with a 583 score while South Carolina-Beaufort is tenth at 585.  Georgia College and No. 24 Barton are tied for 11^th at 587, followed by Carson-Newman (RV) and No. 21 Wingate who are tied for 13^th at 589 and Shorter (RV) is 15^th at 597.   
 
Individually, UNG's Ethan Day leads the field with a 7-under 137, including a 6-under 66 in the first round. Teammate Jack Vajda is second at 6-under 138 to tie for second with West Florida duo of Cooper Tendick and Per Ekelund.  Lincoln Memorial's George Durkan is fifth at 5-under 139.  
 
For the Blazers, senior Chase Long is tied for ninth as he opened with a 73 and followed with a 4-under 68 for a 141 score.  Junior Elad Sebbag sits tied for 31^st with a 145 score on rounds of 69 and 76.  Senior Parker Highsmith is tied for 42^nd with a 147 score on rounds of 74 and 73, while senior Brandon Cho is tied for 47^thwith a 148 score on a pair of 74s.  Sophomore Alexander Nilehn is tied for 64^th with a 152 score on rounds of 78 and 74 and junior Joshua Burki is 71^st with a 153 score after firing rounds of 73 and 80 playing as an individual. 
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com on Tuesday afternoon for a complete recap of the final round.