Fulford Sets Course Record on Opening Day of Springhill Suites Intercollegiate
9/15/2009 2:05:00 AM | Men's Golf
FLORENCE, S.C. - Senior Spencer Fulford owned the day's lowest round of the Springhill Suites Intercollegiate, carding a second-round 63, marking a tournament record and competitive course record at 9-under par. Fulford's 63 broke the previous course record of 64 set by Tom Carr in the 1994 NIKE South Carolina Classic on the Country Club of South Carolina golf course.
In addition to a tournament and competitive course record, Fulford tied the Georgia Southern golf program's all-time lowest round in history. Fulford joined the ranks of Fred Benton, who set the record in 1986, Richie Bryant and Travis Mobley, who was the last Eagle to fire a 63 in 2001, as the only Eagles in history to card the low round since golf was initiated at Georgia Southern in 1971.
Following the first two rounds of play at the 25th-annual Springhill Suites Intercollegiate, Georgia Southern stands in third place with an aggregated 565. The Eagles are five strokes out of first place behind USC Aiken who shot a team 560, and one stroke out of second place Western Carolina with a 564.
With his two-round 138, Fulford stands in a fourth-place tie at the end of the opening day. The Rocky Mount, N.C., native is two strokes out of first place Casey Johnson of Appalachian State. Johnson solely holds first at 136, a minute advantage over second-place Jayson Judy of Elon and Patrick Coleman of Presbyterian College, who both shot a 137.
After round one, Georgia Southern had three Eagles even par or better on the par 72, 7,062 yard Country Club of South Carolina, and two in the red after the second round.
Senior Fulford jumped from a 57th-place tie after round one to a fourth-place tie at the conclusion of the opening day. Fulford opened with a 4-over 75, rebounding on the second 18 holes with a program-record 63. Teeing off on the back nine, the senior fired a 31, compliments of five birdies, to turn at 5-under par. Fulford lost no momentum on the back nine, launching another five birdies and a bogey to round out his 9-under par 63. Fulford finished the day at 6-under 138.
Junior Logan Blondell began the tournament shooting an even 72 to tie for 24th. The Lakeland, Fla., native then jumped to a share of 16th-place in the second round, posting a 3-under 69 for a two round total 3-under 141.
Redshirt-freshman Florian Sander, appearing in his first tournament as an Eagle, displayed a promising opening round, carding a 4-under 68. En route to his sub-par round, Sander owned the front-nine, posting a 5-under 31. After the first 18 holes, Sander stood in a three-way tie for second, two strokes out of first. The Eagle, who hails from Bregenz, Austria, then shot a second round 76 to finish the day tied for 24th.
Owning a share of 39th, junior Joe Monte (Chantilly, Va.) fired a below-par opening round at 1-under 71. Monte finished the day at 2-over 146 with a second round 75.
One stroke behind Monte, teammate Ryan Zabroske shaved one stroke off his opening round 74, capping off the day with a second round 73. Heading into the final round, the senior from Alpharetta, Ga. is tied for 45th.
Competing as an individual, redshirt-junior Coleman Calhoun opened his Eagle career with two rounds of 5-over 77s for a two-round total 154. At 10-over, Calhoun stands solely in 79th place.
"It was a good day for the Eagles and a good bounce back from Iowa," stated head coach Larry Mays. "Logan played solid all day and Florian got off to a great start. He carded the lowest round by a freshman in my tenure with a 68.
I'm proud of the team and their effort today. We need to play a little better tomorrow if we are going to take the title. Tomorrow we need a solid fourth score to pull out the championship; if we can get four solid scores, then we have a good chance to win," said Mays.
The final round of play takes place Tuesday, September 15. Georgia Southern tees off on hole one beginning at 9:20 a.m.
