Three players share lead at HomeTown Lenders Championship

Things to Know

Ben Kohles, currently No. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, set a new tournament course record with a bogey-free 8-under 62 in the second round and is tied for the lead entering Sunday

Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Ben Silverman tallied five birdies over his final six holes of the second round to claim a share of the lead

Carter Jenkins started the second round with a 29 on the back nine at The Ledges and sits T1 entering Sunday with six holes left to complete in Round Two

Four of the five players sitting T4 or better have won on the Korn Ferry Tour this season (Kohles, Silverman, Pierceson Coody and Scott Gutschewski)

Per Korn Ferry Tour Rules and Regulations, the 2023 HomeTown Lenders Championship has been reduced to a 54-hole tournament; dating back to 2000, this will be the 15th Korn Ferry Tour event reduced to 54 holes, including three which were eventually reduced to 36 holes

Second-Round Lead Notes

0: Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win HomeTown Lenders Championship

1: Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (David Skinns/Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Ben Kohles (T1/-10)

Broke the previous tournament course record of 63 (achieved by six players) by carding a bogey-free 8-under 62 in the second round

Rolled in eight total birdies in the second round; the birdies came from two par 5s (Nos. 4, 8), three par 4s (Nos. 2, 17, 18) and three par 3s (Nos. 3, 5, 11)

Currently No. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List; in eight starts this season, has logged three top-10 finishes, highlighted by a win at the Astara Chile Classic

Also has a pair of T7s, which he earned at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club and the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard

Three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour

- 2012 Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship (first career start on Korn Ferry Tour)

- 2012 Cox Classic presented by Lexus of Omaha (second career start on Korn Ferry Tour)

- 2023 Astara Chile Classic

Remains the only player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win each of his first two starts

In his 189 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour entering this week, he has totaled 22 top-10 finishes

Played primarily on the PGA TOUR last year but finished the season No. 179 in the FedExCup Standings and returned to the Korn Ferry Tour where he has made 190 total starts since turning professional in 2012

Played collegiately at Virginia from 2008-12 where he was a three-time All American and two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year (2011, 2012)

Ben Silverman (T1/-10)

Played the first 12 holes of the second round at just 1-under par after three birdies and two bogeys, but climbed the leaderboard late in the round by birdying five of his final six holes (Nos. 4-5, 6-9)

Thirteen birdies this week are tied with Colin Featherstone (T9/-7) for the most in the field

Currently sits third on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List; in five starts this season, he has two top-three finishes, including a victory at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (also placed T3 at last week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic)

A native of Ontario, Canada, turned professional in 2010 and played two seasons on PGA TOUR Canada (2014, 2015) before he earned Korn Ferry Tour membership via Final Stage of 2015 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament

Graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour following the 2017 season, which featured five top-10s and 10 top-25s, including a win at the Price Cutter Charity Championship and T2 at the WinCo Foods Portland Open

Finished No. 136 in the 2017-18 FedExCup Standings on the PGA TOUR and retained status as a member of The Finals 25 with a T3 at the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, his last top10 in PGA TOUR-sanctioned play

Relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2020-21 season following a No. 181 finish in the 2018-19 FedExCup Standings on TOUR

Carter Jenkins (T1/-10)

Started his second round at 5-under thru five holes by posting an eagle at the par-5 10th, followed by a trio of birdies on Nos. 12-14; added another birdie at the 18th and sits 6-under for round two with six holes left to finish Sunday morning

Set a career best 18-hole position of T4 this week after opening with a 4-under 66, his first time inside the top five after any round on the Korn Ferry Tour

Entered this week No. 37 on the Points List after tallying three top-15 finishes in six starts this year:

- T14 at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay

- T8 at The Panama Championship

- T14 at last week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic

Earned Korn Ferry Tour status by placing T39 at Final Stage of last year’s Qualifying School, guaranteeing him eight starts to begin the season

Primarily played on PGA TOUR Canada from 2016-22, logging 10 top-10 finishes in 50 starts over the span

Originally joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017, but only made 12 starts over the next four seasons

Played a season and a half at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (2013-14), where he won two events and was named the 2013-14 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year; transferred to the University of North Carolina and played a season and a half (2015-16) for the Tar Heels where he earned 2016 All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors

Quotables

Ben Kohles on how The Ledges meshes with his playing style… “I love the course, it's awesome. It fits my game great. I've been hitting it good off the tee, so I've just been putting the ball in the fairway almost every hole and having a lot of looks for birdie. Haven’t really missed many greens the whole week so far. That's kind of the strength of my game is hitting a lot of greens. Hopefully tomorrow we can keep it rolling.”

Pierceson Coody on his play Saturday at The Ledges… “I drove it really well, hit a bunch of fairways. It's kind of fairway or bust out here. The Ledges would be an understatement, so you've got to be in the fairway. From there it was really gettable with all the rain and everything, hit a lot of wedges really tight. I would have liked to get a couple more, but 6-under is a really good round.”

Scott Gutschewski on playing well through two rounds… “It was a great day out there. Early start this morning, it was a little cool and windy. We had a little break. Yeah, it turned out to be a beautiful day. I mean, we're playing golf, it can snowball in either direction. Fortunately, I played well today so I enjoyed it, but it can also go the other way and you can be hoping to make a flight home. Yeah, it went well today.”

Notes

Pierceson Coody (T4/-9) rolled in eight birdies against two bogeys in the second round to finish with a 6-under 64; a 23-year-old in his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Coody entered the week No. 6 on the Points List

- Coody turned professional 11 months ago and already has five top-10 finishes, as well as two Korn Ferry Tour wins (2022 Live and Work in Maine Open; 2023 The Panama Championship)

Scott Gutschewski (T4/-9), winner of last week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, carded a bogey-free 7-under 63 in the second round, tying the previous course record before Ben Kohles (who was one group behind Gutschewski) finished with a 8-under 62

Rafael Campos (T6/-8) carded matching 4-under 66s in the first two rounds and notched a 36-hole score of 132, tied for the second lowest of his career and best since the 2019 Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS (66-68–132)

Frankie Capan III (T6/-8) recorded the lowest round of his young career with a bogey-free 6-under 64 Saturday; in his rookie season on the Korn Ferry Tour, the 23-year-old is in position to sit inside the top 10 after 36 holes for the third time of the season (T4 at Veritex Bank Championship, T10 at LECOM Suncoast Classic)

Paul Barjon (T47/-3), winner of the 2021 HomeTown Lenders Championship, currently sits inside the projected cut line of 3-under and has four holes remaining in the second round

Amatuer Jiri Zuska (T47/-3) had to complete his first round Saturday morning and became one of three players to card an opening-round 5-under 65, claiming a share of the 18-hole lead alongside Spencer Levin and Taylor Dickson

Monday qualifier Michael Sweeney (T67/-2), who recorded a hole-in-one at the 230-yard par-3 13th Thursday, currently sits 2-under par and has nine holes remaining in the second round

- Sweeney is making his first start in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event this week; a 26-year-old who lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida but plays from Enfield, Connecticut, Sweeney notably spent four months living out of his car in the summer of 2021 while pursuing a golf career; while this week marks his first start in a TOUR-sanctioned event, Sweeney recently secured PGA TOUR Canada membership by placing solo 10th in a PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying event in February