Golf Finishes Round One at Augusta
4/4/2008 4:15:00 AM | Men's Golf
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Carding a first-round 1-under par, freshman Joe Monte paced Georgia Southern golf, Friday (Apr. 4), in the team's first round of competition at the 30th annual Administaff Augusta State Invitational played at the par-72, 7,403 yard Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga.
Monte (Chantilly, Va.) sits tied for ninth place, while his team finished the day tied for 12th place shooting a 10-over 298. The Eagles share the 12th spot with No. 45 Georgia State. Monte was the lone Eagle to finish under par in a field that includes 11 of Golfweek magazine's top 40 teams in the country. He finished the front nine at even par, then birdied holes 17 and 18 to help finish out the day under par, matching a career low.
No. 6 UCLA leads the pack of 18 at 4-under 284, two strokes better than No. 33 North Carolina. Bruin golfer Lucas Lee shares the individual lead with North Carolina's Chase MacFarland and East Tennessee State's Gareth Shaw at 3-under par.
Juniors Jordan Johnstun (Evans, Ga.) and Drew Lethem (Camdenton, Mo.) followed Monte with the team's next best scores, finishing the day at 3-over 75 and are tied for 54th place. Johnstun, competing in his hometown, eagled hole 14. After a rough start on the front nine at 5-over, freshman Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) hit even-par on the remaining back nine to finish the day shooting a 5-over 77, tying for 69th place. Sophomore Spencer Fulford (Rocky Mount, N.C.) finished the day tied for 85th place after shooting 8-over 80.
Due to the forecast of inclement weather, Saturday's second-round schedule has been altered. Tournament officials will utilize a split-tee format where the top nine teams based on their first-round score will tee off on No. 1 (Palmer). The bottom half of the field will tee off on No. 10 (Player). Georgia Southern will begin teeing off at 9:15 a.m. on the back nine.
Fans can follow the event's live stats on-line at www.Golfstat.com. End-of-day results and recap will be posted on-line at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
| Team Results (Round 1) | ||
| 1 | UCLA | 284 (-4) |
| 2 | North Carolina | 286 (-2) |
| 3 | Lamar | 287 (-1) |
| 4 | Georgia Tech | 288 (E) |
| 5 | North Carolina State | 289 (+1) |
| 6 | Georgia | 290 (+2) |
| 7 | USC-Aiken | 291 (+3) |
| 8 | East Tennessee St. | 293 (+5) |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 295 (+7) |
| T10 | South Carolina | 296 (+8) |
| T10 | Clemson | 296 (+8) |
| T12 | Georgia Southern | 298 (+10) |
| T12 | Georgia State | 298 (+10) |
| T14 | Tennessee | 299 (+11) |
| T14 | Augusta State | 299 (+11) |
| T14 | Houston | 299 (+11) |
| 17 | Coastal Carolina | 301 (+13) |
| 18 | Minnesota | 303 (+15) |
| Georgia Southern Individual Results (Round 1) | ||
| T9 | Joe Monte | 71 (-1) |
| T54 | Drew Lethem | 75 (+3) |
| T54 | Jordan Johnstun | 75 (+3) |
| T69 | Logan Blondell | 77 (+5) |
| T85 | Spencer Fulford | 80 (+8) |
