LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – Guilford College senior Noah Ratner (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) shot an even-par 70 in Sunday’s second round of the Patriot All-America Invitational on the Wigwam Resort’s Gold Course. He improved on his opening-round score of 71 and moved up one spot in the individual standings with a one-over 141 over 36 holes. He heads into Monday’s final round in a share of 15th place in the 82-man field, six strokes off the lead.
Ratner, who also played in last year’s inaugural Patriot Invitational, is the highest NCAA Division III participant. He briefly held the lead after posting birdies on three of the first five holes. The defending NCAA Division III Player of the Year, made the turn at three under. He bogeyed the par-three 11th hole and also had bogeys on 16 and 17.
Clemson University’s Cody Proveaux shot a tournament-best six-under-par 64 to take a two-shot lead. His five-under 135 is two shots better than his Atlantic Coast Conference-rival Richy Werenski of Georgia Tech. Proveaux began the round tied for 16th place and bogeyed his opening hole before notching a birdie on the second. He added another birdie at No. 4 before a run of three-straight birdies beginning on No. 8. He added birdies at Nos. 14 and 16 to move to 6-under for the day and 5-under for the tournament.
Ratner is the lone Guilford student competing in the second-annual 54-hole tournament hosted by the Wigwam Golf Club, the Arizona Golf Association, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and the Folds of Honor Foundation. The field is comprised of current college golfers from all divisions who received PING All-America recognition in 2012. GCAA major award recipients, members of the most recent Palmer Cup Teams and a member from the United States Military, Naval and Air Force Academies’ teams are also included in the field.
The tournament was created in 2011 to recognize top college golfers and honor fallen U.S. military servicemen and servicewomen. Each participant in the event is carrying a golf bag representing a fallen military member. At the tournament’s conclusion, the bags will be signed by the contestants and auctioned off for the benefit of the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military men and women killed or disabled in action.
Ratner is playing in honor of Private First Class James F. McClamrock of the United States Army. A native of Huntersville, N.C., McClamrock served with the Army’s Hawaii-based 25th-Infantry Division. He was killed by an Iraqi soldier while on security detail in Iraq Sept. 7, 2010. The 22-year-old Columbia, S.C., native graduated from South Iredell High School in 2006 and is survived by his wife, Shannah.
Ratner tees off from the first hole at 10:20 a.m. (PST) in Monday’s third and final round.