Photo by Mark L. Anderson Sebastian Munoz follows his shot during LECOM Health Challenge action Friday at Peek ‘n Peak.

FINDLEY LAKE – The second day of play at the LECOM Health Challenge proved once again that age is no indicator of success when it comes to competitive golf.

Through cooler temperatures, sunny skies and occasionally blustery playing conditions, three players are now all square atop the web.com Tour leaderboard as Dudley Hart and Hank Lebioda each fired hot rounds of 65 while yesterday’s co-leader Sebastian Munoz carded an even-keeled 69 at The Upper Course at Peek n’ Peak Resort.

The trio all now sit at 11-under-par for the tournament, with the 49-year old Hart showing the crowd that experience can often be as valuable as youth, while the 23-year-old Lebioda and 25-year-old Munoz continued to play with poise beyond their years.

Starting his round at 7 a.m., Hart was the first to enter the clubhouse with the outright lead, notching five birdies on the front nine for a 31 through the first leg despite some imperfect swings.

“I had a good start on the front,” said Hart.

“At the risk of sounding like a jerk my ball-striking is a little bit shaky, believe it or not. But I got away with a couple of bad swings and my putter… just kind of understanding that certain shots I don’t have right now so I’m not trying it right now.”

Hart’s second nine of the day included a birdie at the par-5 11th and another at the penultimate 17th hole.

“I’m happy where I’m at, didn’t hit the ball very solid, didn’t hit a lot of solid shots but for the most part I controlled my accuracy,” said Hart, who hails from Rochester.

While Hart would like to see his putter heat up as we head into the weekend, the veteran was able to hit 15 fairways in regulation, an improvement from 11 on Thursday during his opening round of 68.

In addition to Hart’s opening 65, few players were hotter on Friday than Lebioda, who ended his round with nine birdies, including six through the first nine holes as the 23-year old began his day with a par at the 414-yard 10th hole.

Lebioda would birdie six of his next seven while focusing on what has been the key to his game this week-patience.

“I’m 23 years old, I feel like most guys in their 20s aren’t patient at all,” Lebioda said when asked about his mantra.

“I knew that if I stayed patient (on the back nine), let the par 5s come to me, I knew I had two remaining, see what I could do, have some fun. I mean it always helps to have six birdies or something like that, that never hurts, I missed a short one for eagle as well. I mean I was playing great golf, I’ve been playing great golf and I know that.”

Of course, there are always going to be times when patience needs to give way to boldness, like the reachable par-4 12 that has seen Lebioda pick up back-to-back birdies.

His strategy?

“Hit it, send it,” the Floridian said with a smile.

“I mean today it was playing down off the left, I believe I hit a 3-wood on the green and yesterday was driver on the green. Just get it past those first trees on the left and you’re going to be in a pretty good spot when you get down there.”

Ending yesterday tied for the lead alongside Cameron Champ, Munoz carded a more reserved 69 in his second round while fighting through some of the strong winds sweeping over the resort during the afternoon.

“It was windy today, so I managed to put the ball in the fairway and try to hit some greens, got off to a good start, a couple birdies. It’s just kind of save pars on the back nine,” Munoz said.

Carding three birdies through his opening series on the back nine, the native of Colombia ran into a spot of trouble at the par-4 second as his approach found the thick left-side rough, ultimately forcing a bogey.

On the following uphill par-3, Munoz was able to overcome a miss-hit putt from the far right side, finishing off with a par before reclaiming his lost stroke with a birdie at the par-5 fourth.

“I feel great, I feel my ball striking is finally there, my putting is getting there so I feel like I’ve been here before and learned about it,” said Munoz.

When told about a hot round from the co-leader and elder statesman Hart, Munoz said, “I had no idea, that is impressive, it’s going to be great playing with him, I don’t know who I’ll be paired with but that would be exciting.”

Following behind the leaders is Trevor Cone at ten under, while Jim Herman, Cameron Champ and Nelson Ledesma are all square at nine under.

After leading alongside Munoz on Thursday, Champ finished with a one-under par 71 after struggling to start his second nine of the day.

With the end of Friday’s action the cut stands at three-under par.

Munoz will join Cone in today’s pairings with a 1:05 p.m. tee-time while Hart and Lebioda will be the last to take to the course at 1:15 p.m.