Site: Verona, Wis.
Course: University Ridge Golf Course (Par 72, 7,259 yards)
Tournament: 2021 Badger Invitational
HPU Team Standing: T-9th of 14 teams (298-291--589, +13)
Top HPU Individual: Christian Castillo (73-72--145, +1), T-24th
Next HPU Round: Tuesday, September 26 -- at Badger Invitational, Round Three (Verona, Wis.)

VERONA, Wis. -- The High Point University men's golf team climbed two spots after round two of the 2021 Badger Invitational on Monday (Sept. 27) and finds itself in a share of ninth place at +13 after 36 holes.
 
HPU shaved seven strokes off its score from round one, tied for the fourth-best improvement in strokes from round one to round two. The Panthers' climb of two spots made the Purple and White one of just two schools to climb multiple spots on moving day - along with Cincinnati - while there were five schools that slid multiple spots during round two.
 
"The guys showed some grit after staring adversity in the face on our starting nine," head coach Brady Gregor said after round two. "They really stepped up shooting under par on the front nine, which was our back nine and is the harder of the two. We need to keep that green arrow on GolfStat tomorrow to salvage this tournament and finish strong."
 
Christian Castillo maintained his spot atop the High Point leaderboard thanks to a four-under front nine for a round of 72 to finish the day +1 for the event. Stuart Fuller had HPU's best round of day two with a one-under 71, complete with the first eagle of the season for the Panthers to sit at two-over on the tournament. Avery Price ended his day with three birdies in his final five holes to match Castillo with an even-par 72 for a 36-hole score of four-over. Charlie Barr and Adam Hooker rounded out High Point's lineup with rounds of 76 and 78, respectively, on Monday.
 
Castillo had a shaky start to the round on the back and bogeyed his opening hole for the second day in a row. He followed that with a double and two more bogeys before putting his first red number on the board with a birdie on 18. That kicked off a torrid final nine holes for Castillo as he birdied holes one and two and ended his day with two more on holes eight and nine. His birdie on eight was his only birdie on a par-3 in the tournament in the first two rounds, making him one of nine golfers to play the short holes under-par after 36.
 
Fuller took a double on his second hole of the day on the par-5 11th before quickly getting back to even on the day two holes later. His second shot found the bottom of the cup on the par-4 13th for the first Panther eagle of the season and bring him back level. He made the turn to the front under par after a birdie on 15 and tacked on another on hole two that brought him to -2. In the reverse of what happened on the back, those two shots quickly evaporated two holes later after a double on hole four but he was able to recover with a birdie on hole seven for the Purple and White's only sub-par round of the day. With 12 pars on Monday Fuller stayed near the top of the statistical leaderboard for most pars with 26 in the tournament - the sixth-most in the field and three off the lead.
 
Price kicked off his moving day with seven straight pars before breaking the streak with a bogey on the par-3 17th. He took two more bogeys right after making the turn on holes two and four before getting back to even on the day with a strong finish. He bounced back from the bogey on the fourth with a birdie on hole five and then birdied hole seven and the par-5 ninth for a one-under front nine and a round of 72.
 
Barr had three birdies in the round and picked up two in his first nine to go with a double and two bogeys to head to the front two-over. A birdie on hole two put him one stroke away from getting back to par but a back-to-back bogey and double dropped him to +4 on the day and +7 for the tournament. Hooker had a tough shake to start with back-to-back doubles on 10 and 11 and a bogey on 14. He took two more bogeys on holes two and three before picking up his only birdie of the round on hole five and then fired four straight pars to end the day.
 
Illinois State switched spots with Sam Houston State behind a 273 (-15) round from the Redbirds to sit at -17 after two rounds, four strokes ahead of Sam Houston. Illinois State's Andrew O'Brien tied for the best round of the day with a 66 to lead the field by two strokes at -7 heading into Tuesday's final round.
 
High Point is in the first group to go off the front in the final round on Tuesday (Sept. 28). The Panthers are paired with South Dakota State and Eastern Michigan and will tee off during the 9:00 ET hour (8:00 CT).