Kade Crossland overcame a lightning storm to finish round two tied for 16th overall.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – While having to overcome a lightning delay, and then a full lightning suspension to go along with triple-bogeying the first hole of the day, Corban University freshman Kade Crossland (Buhl, Idaho) signed his scorecard with an even-par 72 in round two of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Golf Championships, moving up on the leaderboard and is now tied for 16th overall after two rounds.
With scores of 73 in round one, and 72 in round two, his two-round one-over par total of 145 leaves him within striking distance on the third day of action to make a big move towards the top of the leaderboard.
Crossland’s day did not start how he wanted it to on Wednesday, triple-bogeying the first hole and then bogeying Hole No. 2 to go to four-over par on the day and five-over for the tournament. He settled in, however, remained mentally strong, and registered a par on the next three holes before scoring a birdie on the three holes after that. He finished the front nine at two-over par, but a pair of birdies to begin the back nine saw him go even on the day. On Hole No. 14, Crossland birdied again, taking himself to one-under par and even for the tournament.
With a full head of steam and the final three holes ahead of him, a tropical storm moved into the Daytona Beach area, and lightning caused for a two-hour delay. Eventually, the NAIA decided to suspend the round completely due to the weather, moving everything to Thursday morning. Early on Thursday morning, Crossland closed out the round with two pars and a bogey, ultimately finishing the day at even par to keep him at one-over par overall in the NAIA Championships and tied for 16th.
“Kade got off to a pretty rough start, but was able to battle back throughout the round to post a good score,” said head coach Tom Graves. “After starting four-over through two holes, he chose to stay mentally tough and continue to grind, knowing that there was a lot of golf left to be played. It was a defining moment for him in the round and championship. Round two could have easily turned into an 80 if he would have mentally checked out right then and there, but he stayed positive, rattled off six birdies throughout the round, and turned in a 72 to keep himself in contention. He has a lot of momentum going into round 3!”
Crossland is set to tee off round three at 10 a.m. PDT today with the same threesome he has been with, consisting of Daniel Thompsett from Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) and Zach Day from Mobile (Ala.).
Be sure to follow along throughout the day via live stats!