ITHACA – Alex Gage of the Purple Tornado shot an 85 to miss the day one cut by two strokes through the miserable course conditions at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University on Thursday, May 16.

Returning two days later for the second round, Gage had talked to his head coach Dave Branham prior to the start about what he needed to do in order to make the New York State Championship tournament in his senior year.

“Last year, Alex was in nearly the same spot,” said Branham. “He shot an 88 and 75 for his two rounds, nearly missing the cut for the state tournament. I told him there is no reason he couldn’t do something like that again.

“After watching the field play on the first day, I knew Alex was going to need at least a 75 or better to make the cut and move on. I made him aware of it and he went out knowing what he needed to do.”

Gage shot a 78 for the round, shooting a third-best score for the 18 holes. With the two rounds added together, the Tornado senior had a total of 163 for the tournament.

Once the other groups finished their second round, Gage found himself fighting three other golfers from the the section for one of the final spots.