Eagles Tied for 10th After Day One of John Hayt
2/28/2011 12:02:00 AM | Men's Golf
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. - Celebrating his birthday on the first day of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, senior Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) carded an even-par 72 to help position Georgia Southern in a 10th-place tie with tournament host North Florida after the first round. The Eagles concluded the first day of the three-day tournament with a 4-over 292 at the par-72, 6,942-yard Sawgrass Country Club. Auburn and TCU lead the field, posting a 6-under 282. LSU's John Peterson, who won the tournament in 2009, leads the individual standings with a 5-under 67.
"The past few years the weather has not been that great, but you couldn't ask for better weather today," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "Our Achilles Heel this season has been rough first rounds, so I was very excited to see us put up a good first-round score that will keep us in contention going into the second round. We didn't play our greatest golf but we played solidly. I think we have great golf performances in us going into the next rounds."
In preparation for the John Hayt, the Eagle coaches have emphasized consistent first-round play and the result today was the lowest round since the second-round 289 at the David Toms Intercollegiate last October. The 292 team total also serves as the lowest round ever for the Eagles in the team's last three years competing at the John Hayt Invitational. The previous low round of 295 was recorded both in last year's second round, when GSU finished 10th, and in the final round of the 2009 tournament when the Eagles finished third.
Blondell and freshman Hayden Anderson (Knoxville, Tenn.) shared an even-par first-round to lead Georgia Southern in the individual standings in a tie for 23rd place. Blondell fired a birdie on both the back and front nine to help maintain his even-par status, his best round at the John Hayt since his first-round 72 in 2009. Anderson, making his debut in the five-man lineup, carded two birdies on par-4s coming down the back nine to mirror Blondell's first-round even-72.
Florian Sander (Bregenz, Austria), who finished tied for fifth last year, carded three birdies down the stretch on a par-4 (#1), par-3 (#6) and par-5 (#8) to battle back for a first-round 73 (+1) to put the sophomore in a tie for 33rd. Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) finished two strokes behind Sander with a 3-over 75 to finish the day in a tie for 49th place.
Jake Ware (Statesboro, Ga.), competing as an individual, finished the first 18 holes of the tournament with a 4-over 76. Will Evans (McDonough, Ga.) closed out the first day with a 5-over 77.
Georgia Southern will be paired with Ole Miss and North Florida for the second round. Will Evans will tee off first for the Eagles on the 10th hole beginning at 8:45 a.m. Monday, February 28th, with members of the Georgia Southern Golf team teeing off in eight-minute increments.
Fans can get live scoring of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational by visiting www.golfstat.com.
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