Matt Gilchrest
(Auburn Athletics Photo)

Gilchrest reached 11-under for the week with a birdie on the 14th hole and was still there as he stepped onto the 17th tee. Then disaster struck for the Tigers senior as he carded a double-bogey on the penultimate hole and then a bogey on the final hole.

The closing two hole stretch undid all of Gilchrest's work from earlier in the day. Through 16 holes Gilchrest had carded four birdies and only one bogey and was 3-under for his round.

Corey Pereira, a senior at Washington and the 28th ranked amateur in the U.S., moved into second place with his third consecutive under-par round. Pereira, 7-under, posted a 2-under 67 that included three birdies and one bogey.

Sean Crocker, a junior at USC, moved into third place after a 4-under 65. Crocker, the fourth ranked amateur in the world birdied six holes and bogeyed two. During Saturday's final round Crocker will be looking for his second Major of Amateur Golf win in the last month following his win at the Monroe Invitational.

Patrick Martin (Vanderbilt) and Matthew Lowe (Richmond) are just three back at 5-under and tied for fourth.

ROUND TWO RECAP

Matt Gilchrest picked up right where he left off during Thursday's second round at the Northeast Amateur. Following two days of play at Wannamoisett Country Club, Gilchrest is 8-under and two-strokes ahead of 2018 SMU commit Noah Goodwin.

Gilchrest started his second round on the 10th hole and came out of the gates rolling with three straight birdies on holes 12-14 to reach 7-under. A couple of holes later Gichrest reached 8-under with a birdie on No. 17 as he turned in 4-under 31.

The back nine was a bit more of a struggle as the Tigers senior bogeyed holes 2 and 6. Gilchrest was able to bounce back with two birdies as he returned to 8-under for the tournament.

Top junior player Noah Goodwin surged on Thursday with a 4-under 65 to move into second place at 6-under. Goodwin, just 16-years-old jump started his week on his opening nine, the homeward side. On the 14th, the SMU commit carded his first birdie of the day but the highlight of the day came on the ensuing hole.

When Goodwin stepped on the tee for the 196 yard par-3, he had never recorded a hole-in-one, by the time he walked off the green he had. The ace brought Goodwin to 5-under.

Goodwin tallied two more birdies on the side to complete an opening 5-under 30. On the front nine, Goodwin shot a 1-over 35 with two bogeys and a birdie.

Zachary Bauchou (Oklahoma State) and Corey Pereira (Washington) are tied for third at 5-under. Seven players, including Texas' Scottie Scheffler, are 4-under and share fifth.

First round co-leaders John Flaherty (UConn) and Brad Valois from Warwick, RI both shot 3-over 72's on Thursday and they moved back into a tie for 20th at 1-under.

Dawson Armstrong (Lipscomb) was also part of the first day lead before shooting a 4-over 73 to fall back to even-par and a 31st place tie.

Play will continue tomorrow with the third round of play. The cut will be made at the completion of play on Friday.

FIRST ROUND RECAP

A quartet of players have moved to the top of the leaderboard, after the first day of play at the Northeast Amateur. All four players posted first round 4-under 65's. Following the opening 18-holes, the leaderboard at Wannamoisett Country Club is a crowded one with 29 players under-par and within three-strokes of the lead.

Lipscomb junior, Dawson Armstrong is among those leading the way. Armstrong, who became the first Lipscomb golfer to win Atlantic Sun Player of the Year honors this year; carded five birdies, an eagle and three bogeys.

The eagle came on the 365 yard par-4 when Armstrong, the 2015 Western Amateur winner, carded a two. Armstrong began his round on No. 10 and got as low as 7-under before he bogeyed three of the last four holes.

2015 All-SEC first teamer Matt Matt Gilchrest also holds a piece of the first round lead. The Auburn senior tallied six birdies and two bogeys on Wednesday. On holes 4-7 he carded three birdies including two in a row on 4 and 5.

Recent UConn graduate John Flaherty started on the 10th and came out of the gates firing, as he too is tied for the lead. Flaherty parred the 10th before birdieing the next four holes in a row. With two more birdies on the 17th and 3rd holes Flaherty reached 6-under, before dropping a couple of strokes with a double-bogey on the 4th.

The final player tied for the lead is Rhode Island native Brad Valois, of Warwick. Valois made the turn at 1-under before closing with birdies on 13, 15, 16 and 17. The local favorite did drop a stroke on the final hole but he was still able to shoot a 3-under 32 on the back nine.

Five players are one shot back at 3-under, including Michigan's Kyle Mueller who competed in last weeks U.S. Open.