The men’s golf team has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to defend its Mid-American Conference Championship this weekend at The Medallion Club in Westerville.

After two rounds, the Flashes are in third place at 2-under-par, 11 strokes behind tournament-leading Akron after a 36-hole Thursday.

“It could have been a lot worse,” head coach Herb Page said. “Our number one and two players played poorly, and we are still in position to win because of the great production from the other guys.”

Sophomore Peter Ahn is in second place at 4-under-par, two shots behind Akron’s Brad Wright.

“Peter played real solid golf today,” Page said. “He made a lot of birdies, but when he got into trouble, he played patient and didn’t let it beat him.”

Co-defending medalist senior Marc Bourgeois struggled in round two after a streaky first round. He sits at 3-over-par for the tournament, tied for 23rd.

Junior Tom Ballinger, who co-medaled with Bourgeois last year, sits at 16-over-par for the tournament.

“Their scores speak for themselves,” Page said. “Tom and Marc have carried us all year. This is very untypical of them.

“If they bounce back while the other guys keep playing good golf, we just might still have a chance to win,” he said.

“I’m kind of optimistic we can still win,” Page said. “It is only halftime right now. The key is to cut the lead down to single digits before Saturday.”

The team will play 18 holes Friday and 18 more Saturday. The winning team receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regionals.

Contact golf reporter Jeff Russ at [email protected].