MOORESVILLE -- Heading into Day 2 of the NCAA Division II Men's Atlantic Regional, the Barton College golf team has some work to do.
The Bulldogs shot a team score of 307 on the par-72, 7,037-yard The Point Lake And Golf Club course to finish in fourth place Monday. They sit behind-leader Belmont Abbey (294), Anderson (303) and Coker (306), heading into this morning's second round.
"We're not where we wanted to be," Barton head coach John Hackney said by telephone this morning. "We dug ourselves a big hole, so we'll have to put our shovels in our golf bags today."
The Bulldogs need to finish the three-day event within the top five teams from the Southeast/Atlantic Super Regional to advance to the championship. They are currently 11th. One individual not on a qualifying team will also advance.
"We're just worried about getting to the top," Hackney said. "... We haven't ever really played well the first day, so we'll try to make a move. The guys are capable of going low today, and I think that will happen."
Jonathan Burke, a junior and product of Charles B. Aycock High, bounced back from back-to-back double bogeys at the start of his round to finish with a 2-over 74. He tied for sixth individually, trailing leader Connor Tomlinson of Abbey with a 2-under 70.
Stephen Harrison (76), Daniel Castleberry (77), Neal Jones (80) and Joe Elwell (82) followed for Barton.
"Some of the guys felt like they hit the ball well enough to score, but we really struggled putting," Hackney said.
The Bulldogs hit 80 percent of the fairways and 60 percent of the greens in regulation.
"But we averaged 34 putts, which was the kiss of death," Hackney said.
Barton's top three players were all above that mark and its top four combined for nine three-putts. "That's not going to work at this level," Hackney said. "The main thing today is to knock it in the hole."
The Bulldogs teed off this morning at 9:30 and will be re-paired for Wednesday morning's round, teeing off between 8 and 9:30.
Live scoring can be found on the Internet at www.golfstat.com.