Round 2 Recap

TENTH to the TOP ~ Birmingham fires a 3 under par 69 to win the Nittany Lion Open

Michael Birmingham of Ashburn, VA (2009) began the final round of the Nittany Lion Open in a tie for 10th place with three other players after an opening round of 76. On Saturday,seventeen year old Rob McLay of Burlington, ON, CANADA (2009) took the first round lead with an even par 72. McLay began the final round with a two-shot advantage over four players, who were tied for 2nd: Todd Berglund of Pittsburgh, PA (2010), Steve Bednar of Monroe Falls, OH (2008), Kyle Johnson of Endicott, NY (2009), and

Zach Elkins of Dublin, OH (2011). Elkins was also leading among the Boys 13-15 division players.

On Sunday, the leaderboard did "the shuffle". Birmingham fired his 3 under par round of 69 that took him all the way to the top of the leaderboard, earning him his first FCWT win. The par 5s are what clinched it for Michael as he led in par 5 performance with a 4.62 average. Two strokes back of Birmingham were

Will Morris of Columbus, OH (2009) and

Andrew Lane of Rockport, NY (2010). Morris began the day one stroke back of Birmingham and tied for 17th. Will added 6 birdies to the 4 he accummulated on Saturday while carding a 2 under par on Sunday to lead in birdies for the event with 10. Andrew, one of three players to card an eagle on the 18th hole on Saturday, began the day tied with Birmingham for 10th place. He carded a final round of 1 under par to earn his share of 2nd place.

Steve Bednar of Monroe Falls, OH (2008), who began the day tied for 2nd, finished in 4th place at 148, 3 strokes back of the champion. Overnight leader

Rob McLay of Burlington, ON, CANADA (2009) finished in 5th place.

Matthew Burkhart of Lancaster, PA (2009) finished in 6th place, carding Sunday's only eagle on the par 5 9th hole. Joshua Eure of Crofton, MD (2009) carded a final round of 72 to finish tied for 7th with Mike Miller of Brewster, NY (2010) and

Jonathan Halpern of Pittsburgh, PA (2010), who carded an eagle on the par 5 18th hole on Saturday. Brian Hollins of Rockville, MD (2009) finished all alone in 10th after starting the day tied with 3 other players for that position.

Zach Elkins of Dublin, OH (2011) and

Matt Fry of Bel Air, MD (2010)were tied for 13-15 1st position honors at the end of 36 holes. Zach Elkins won on the first playoff hole and Fry ended with 2nd place honors.

Jack Shoreman of Orangeville, ON, CANADA (2010) finished just 2 strokes back of Elkin and Fry and earned 3rd place honors for the 13-15 year olds.

In the Boys 11-12 division,

Bennett Wisner, Jr. of Hampstead, MD (2014)edged out

Matthew Moore of Pittsburgh, PA (2014).

Lee goes wire-to-wire for her first FCWT win

Fifteen year old Suzie Lee of Long Island, NY (2010) carded 3 birdies on Saturday to take the opening round lead at the Nittany Lion Open. It was a lead she would not relinquish. Miss Lee began the final round with a 3-stroke advantage over

Heather Arison of Copley, OH (2008). Miss Lee earned her first FCWT win and her fourth Top 5 finish of the season by holding off Amy Meier of Rochester Hills, MI (2009). Miss Meier started the final round in third place, but tied Karen Chung of Livingston, NJ (2013) for the Low Round Honors with a 75 and thus moved up to 2nd place. Heather Arison finished in 3rd place, just one stroke ahead of Miss Chung who finished 4th, her 9th Top 5 finish of the season. Shamira Marshall of Macedonia, OH (2008) finished in 5th at 158.