LIHUE, Hawai'i - Vanderbilt came out strong and took charge in the opening two rounds of the 9th Annual Kaua'i Collegiate Cup hosted by Western Kentucky University Friday at the Wailua Golf Course.

The Commodores, paced by Jon Curran and Billy Whalen who finished the first day of play in second and third places, jumped out to a nine-stoke lead in the opening round and then expanded that advantage to 12 strokes after a long 36-hole day on the oceanfront Wailua course. Vandy heads into Saturday's final 18 holes of the 54-hole event with an even-par 576 team total.

Defending Cup champion Oklahoma Christian, paced by current individual leader Rhein Gibson's 4-under par 140 (a pair of 70's in the first two rounds), is second in the team standings at 588 strokes while Southeastern Louisiana is third at 596, two shots better than Gonzaga (598), in the 11-team field.

Vandy's Curran is second in the individual standings, trailing Gibson by a single stroke at 141 (he shot a 69 followed by a 72). And, knotted in third place at 144 are Whalen (75-69), Southeastern's Matthew Carvell (73-71) and Old Dominion's John Murphy (74-70).

WKU faded from seventh after the first 18 to ninth place with it's 625 score at the end of the day's play.

Freshman Neil Horsley led WKU in the first two rounds, carding a 1-over 73 in the second round to total 151 for the day, good enough to earn him in a three-way tie for 16th place. This was his first appearance for the Hilltoppers since he transferred to WKU from Missouri-Kansas City.

Other team totals are: ODU (605), Lipscomb (611), Texas-Pan American (612), Wofford (621), West Liberty State (651) and Hawai'i Pacific (655).