Tennessee Holds Three Stroke Lead After First Round of Schenkel E-Z Go Invitational
3/20/2009 4:27:00 AM | Men's Golf
STATESBORO, GA ? No. 21 Tennessee holds a three-stroke lead over runner-up No. 79 North Florida after the first round of competition, Friday (March 20), at the 30th Annual Schenkel E-Z Go Invitational. Host school No. 50 Georgia Southern fought back to finish tied for third alongside No. 12 South Carolina on the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
After the first 18 holes among an elite field of 18, the Volunteers shot a 1-under par 287 to gain a three-shot lead over North Florida (+2). Tennessee was the only school to finish sub-par on the opening day. North Florida staged a late comeback to finish in second place, holding a one-stroke lead over Georgia Southern (+3) and South Carolina (+3) heading into round two on Saturday. No. 5 Florida rounds out the top five after day one with a 4-over par 292 team total.
The Vols' Robin Wingardh finished in a four-way tie for first place on the individual leader board with a 3-under par 69. Auburn's Glenn Northcutt, LSU's Sang Yi and Augusta State's Taylor Ford (individual) matched Wingardh's opening round 69 for first place. Northcutt was one of only two players to Eagle in the first round.
“They just played well. It was a tough course and typically is a challenging golf course. Today was sort of the exception and today was a little tricky. Robin [Wingardh] had an exceptionally good round,” said Tennessee head coach Jim Kelson. “From top to bottom, we had a good round. I thought they played smart.”
Eagles Logan Blondell and Ryan Zabroske paced Georgia Southern on the first day, rounding out the first 18 with a 1-under 71 tally. Both Eagles stand tied for eighth place. Blondell had 13 pars, three birdies and only two bogeys en route to his below par score. Zabroske, competing on an individual basis, carded an identical statistical round as Blondell for a season low 71 (-1).
Joe Monte trails Blondell and Zabroske by one stroke finishing with an even-par 72. Georgia Southern opened on the back nine as Monte round himself +1 heading into hole 18. Monte birdied on 18 for a back nine par-36 only to be followed by nine pars on the front half to close out his even-par 72.
Ryan LeFevre stands in a tie for 27th with a 73 (+1) opening round. The senior Eagle opened with a double bogey on hole 10 and found himself +3 after the first nine holes, but quickly rebounded on the front nine. LeFevre stood at +3 after hole six before carding consecutive birdies to close out the front nine -2 for a final opening round 73.
Drew Lethem and Spencer Fulford round out Georgia Southern's starting five. Lethem finished round one with a 75 (+3) for a 45th place tie, while Fulford posted a 77 (+5) opening round placing him in a tie for 66th.
Jordan Johnstun and Sean Brannan competed for the Eagles on an individual basis. Johnstun carded an opening round 75 (+3) to tie with fellow Eagle Lethem for 45th. Brannan stands alongside Fulford with a 77 (+5).
“We've been playing good coming in and we've had two good finishes coming in. So we felt like we had some good momentum coming in - putting another solid round on the board can't hurt,” said Georgia Southern head coach Larry Mays. “We've been doing it as a team throughout the spring; we've had different guys stepping up each round and each tournament. I'd say we're looking to go out there and compete for a championship.”
Competition resumes Saturday morning with the first group teeing off at 8:51 a.m. on the back nine. Georgia Southern will start on the front nine at 9:45 a.m.
Live scoring will be available for fans to follow the action on www.Golfstat.com. All tournament information, including participating schools, can be found on the tournament central page on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
After the first 18 holes among an elite field of 18, the Volunteers shot a 1-under par 287 to gain a three-shot lead over North Florida (+2). Tennessee was the only school to finish sub-par on the opening day. North Florida staged a late comeback to finish in second place, holding a one-stroke lead over Georgia Southern (+3) and South Carolina (+3) heading into round two on Saturday. No. 5 Florida rounds out the top five after day one with a 4-over par 292 team total.
The Vols' Robin Wingardh finished in a four-way tie for first place on the individual leader board with a 3-under par 69. Auburn's Glenn Northcutt, LSU's Sang Yi and Augusta State's Taylor Ford (individual) matched Wingardh's opening round 69 for first place. Northcutt was one of only two players to Eagle in the first round.
“They just played well. It was a tough course and typically is a challenging golf course. Today was sort of the exception and today was a little tricky. Robin [Wingardh] had an exceptionally good round,” said Tennessee head coach Jim Kelson. “From top to bottom, we had a good round. I thought they played smart.”
Eagles Logan Blondell and Ryan Zabroske paced Georgia Southern on the first day, rounding out the first 18 with a 1-under 71 tally. Both Eagles stand tied for eighth place. Blondell had 13 pars, three birdies and only two bogeys en route to his below par score. Zabroske, competing on an individual basis, carded an identical statistical round as Blondell for a season low 71 (-1).
Joe Monte trails Blondell and Zabroske by one stroke finishing with an even-par 72. Georgia Southern opened on the back nine as Monte round himself +1 heading into hole 18. Monte birdied on 18 for a back nine par-36 only to be followed by nine pars on the front half to close out his even-par 72.
Ryan LeFevre stands in a tie for 27th with a 73 (+1) opening round. The senior Eagle opened with a double bogey on hole 10 and found himself +3 after the first nine holes, but quickly rebounded on the front nine. LeFevre stood at +3 after hole six before carding consecutive birdies to close out the front nine -2 for a final opening round 73.
Drew Lethem and Spencer Fulford round out Georgia Southern's starting five. Lethem finished round one with a 75 (+3) for a 45th place tie, while Fulford posted a 77 (+5) opening round placing him in a tie for 66th.
Jordan Johnstun and Sean Brannan competed for the Eagles on an individual basis. Johnstun carded an opening round 75 (+3) to tie with fellow Eagle Lethem for 45th. Brannan stands alongside Fulford with a 77 (+5).
“We've been playing good coming in and we've had two good finishes coming in. So we felt like we had some good momentum coming in - putting another solid round on the board can't hurt,” said Georgia Southern head coach Larry Mays. “We've been doing it as a team throughout the spring; we've had different guys stepping up each round and each tournament. I'd say we're looking to go out there and compete for a championship.”
Competition resumes Saturday morning with the first group teeing off at 8:51 a.m. on the back nine. Georgia Southern will start on the front nine at 9:45 a.m.
Live scoring will be available for fans to follow the action on www.Golfstat.com. All tournament information, including participating schools, can be found on the tournament central page on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
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