MADISON, Miss. (4/23/24) – Arkansas State men's golfers Thomas Schmidt, Jake Lile and Devyn Pappas are among the top four individuals and the Red Wolves built a 17-stroke advantage in the team standings after 36 holes of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championship at Annandale Golf Club.

Schmidt backed up his opening round 4-under par 68 with a 3-under par 69 Tuesday to lead Pappas, Lile and Ryan Bilby of Marshall by four strokes ahead of Wednesday's final round of stroke play. A bogey on the second was the only blemish of the day for Schmidt as he added four birdies to card his 17th par or better round this season.

Pappas fired the low round of the day at 5-under par 67 capped by an eagle on the last hole. Pappas countered bogeys on the second and seventh with six birdies and an eagle for his eighth par or better round this year. He was 4-under par on the last four holes with birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 and the eagle on the last. Joining Pappas in a tie for second, Lile was even-par Tuesday following his 3-under par 69 in the opening round. Lile opened with back-to-back bogeys, but birdies on No. 3 and No. 5 got him to the turn at even-par. After a birdie on the par-3 12th, Lile had bogeys on No. 13 and No. 15, but rolled in a birdie on No. 17 to finish the round even-par.

Hugo Ronnberg also carded an eagle on the last to finish off a 1-over par 73 round. Eagles on the par-5 18th hole by Ronnberg and Pappas were two of the three by all players on the course Tuesday. Ronnberg has totaled 8-over par 150 thus far to tie for 32nd. Jack Maxey trimmed three strokes off his opening round 77 with a 2-over par 74 to land inside the top-40 after 36 holes at 9-over par 151.

With a 7-under par 281 Tuesday, A-State's lead grew to 17 strokes over ULM (+10) and 20 over Marshall (+13). The Red Wolves and Warhawks were the only teams under par Tuesday with the Warhawks posting a 1-under par 287. The course average for the second round was 73.91, nearly three strokes better than the opening round average of 76.27. Southern Miss (+15) and Troy (+15) are tied for fourth while Texas State (+16), Louisiana (+17), Coastal Carolina (+17), James Madison (+20) and Georgia Southern (+21) round out the top 10.

Following the conclusion of stroke play Wednesday, the top four teams advance to match play on Thursday. The semifinal matches begin at 8:30 a.m. with the No. 1 and No. 4 seed on the first hole and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds on No. 10. The championship match will follow the conclusion of the semifinal matches.

A-State has not finished higher than third in stroke play at the SBC Championship since 1999 (second), but won the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship match play over ULM 4-1. The Red Wolves have not had an individual stroke play champion at the SBC Championship since David Faught in 1997. Luka Naglic lost in a sudden death playoff in 2019 against Steven Fisk of Georgia Southern.

Live coverage of Wednesday's final round of stroke play begins at 10:30 a.m. on ESPN+. The Red Wolves tee off beginning at 8:30 a.m. and live scoring is available on Golfstat.com. For the latest on A-State men's golf, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateMGolf), Facebook (/AStateMGolf) and Instagram (@astatemensgolf).

Sun Belt Conference Championship
36 Hole Results
1 Arkansas State 288-281=569 (-7)
1 Thomas Schmidt 68-69=137 (-7)
T2 Jake Lile 69-72=141 (-3)
T2 Devyn Pappas 74-67=141 (-3)
T32 Hugo Ronnberg 77-73=150 (+6)
T36 Jack Maxey 77-74=151 (+7)