Eagles Complete Round One of NCAA Southeast Regional

SORRENTO, Fla. – After weather conditions halted play for almost four hours, the Georgia Southern men’s golf team concluded the opening of three rounds of the NCAA Southeast Regional with an aggregated 291 and stands in 12th place of the 14-team field heading in to the second round. The Regional is being contested on the par-71, 7,136 yard Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla.

UCF leads the field in first place with a 16-under par opening round. Arizona stands two strokes back at -14, followed by South Carolina and Charlotte each carding 273’s (-11) for a third place standing. Rounding out the top five after day one was Florida State with a 277 (-7).

Junior Spencer Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.) leads the Eagles after round one carding a 1-under par 70 to finish tied for 24th. Fulford fired a birdie on the opening hole to begin the morning. He followed a bogey on two with a pair of birdies to close out the front nine at 2-under par. The Eagle was even-par heading in to hole 17 where a birdie placed him at 1-under for the day.

Sophomore Logan Blondell and senior Drew Lethem both finished at 2-over par 73 after day one. Blondell was even-par at the turn after a birdie on hole five erased a bogey on three. The Lakeland, Fla. birdied two of his last four holes to knock off two strokes to leave him at 2-over par.

Lethem turned at two-over after a pair of opening bogeys, but shot even-par on the back nine. Birdies on 13 and 17 sandwiched around two bogeys cancelled each other out to allow the Camdenton, Missouri native to finish the opening round in tie for 53rd place alongside teammate Blondell with a 73.

Sophomore Joe Monte, a Chantilly, Virginia native, rounded out the day’s play with a 75 (+4). Monte’s opening round was highlighted by consecutive birdies on holes 13 and 14 as he excelled on the back nine at 1-over par. The Eagle heads in to round two tied for 66th.

Closing out the opening round for Georgia Southern was senior Ryan LeFevre. The Boca Raton, Fla. native finished day one with a 6-over par 77 to place him tied at 71 on the leader board. 

“It was a rough day for the Eagles. We just couldn’t get anything going,” said head coach Larry Mays. “It was a long day out there with a four hour rain delay and we never seemed to get a rhythm for the course. We will regroup tonight and go out tomorrow and take it low.”

Round two of competition begins Friday morning at 8:50 a.m. The Eagles tee off with Loyola College and Iowa at 9:20 a.m. off hole 10. The top five teams of each of the six regionals, along with the top individual not on the selected teams, will advance to the NCAA Championship May 26-30 in Toledo, Ohio.

TEAM STANDINGS-OPENING ROUND
1. UCF                       268 (-16)
2. Arizona                   270 (-14)
T3. South Carolina       273 (-11)
T3. Charlotte               273 (-11)
5. Florida State            277 (-7)
6. Kentucky, U. of        281 (-3)
T7. Augusta State        282 (-2)
T7. Georgia                  282 (-2)
T7. Georgia State         282 (-2)
10. Iowa, U. of              283 (-1)
11. Loyola College        284 (E)
12. Georgia Southern 291 (+7)
13. Campbell                293 (+9)
14. Indiana Univ.           294 (+10)

GEORGIA SOUTHERN INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS-OPENING ROUND
T24. Spencer Fulford  70
T53. Logan Blondell    73
T53. Drew Lethem      73
T66. Joe Monte          75
T71. Ryan LeFevre     77

Category: Golf

Published on Thursday, 14 May 2009 21:04