Led by senior Joel Sjoholm's six-under par 65, the 48th-ranked Georgia State University men's golf team sits in second after posting a team score of 289 (+5) in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in Williamsburg, Va. on Friday.

Sjoholm carded a seemingly flawless first round with six birdies, three on both the front and back nine, and no bogeys on the Gold Course at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. The native of Sweden who ranks fourth nationally holds a two-stroke lead over his nearest competitor, UNC Wilmington's Will Shambley.

“Joel [Sjoholm] played a superb round of golf today,” said Georgia State head coach Matt Clark. “Anytime you score under par it's a good day, but to be able to post six birdies today and no bogeys is just awesome.

“There are some short par fives out on this course and when you consider he didn't birdie any of those makes his round even more amazing,” added Clark.

As a team, the Panthers recorded a first-round team score of 289 to sit one stroke off the lead held by Drexel on the par-71, 6,738-yard layout.

“It was a good round of golf for us and we sit in a position to make a move tomorrow,” said Clark. “We didn't play our best golf today and to have Joel [Sjoholm] as a senior leader was valuable, because he kept us at the top with his round. Tomorrow, we're going to have to go out and give Joel some help and hopefully we can reclaim the title on Sunday.”

In addition to Sjoholm's tournament-leading first-round performance, every member of the State team shot a 77 or lower. Sophomore Tom Sherreard, who is ranked 70th nationally, sits tied for 11th overall after a first-round score or 73 (+2), while fellow sophomore Maurice Jordan is tied for 23rd (75, +4).

Freshmen Brent Paul and Alex Castro are tied for 30th (76, +5) and 38th (77, +6) respectively. Notably, Paul carded two eagles in his first conference championship tournament, the par-five second hole and the par-four 11th.

Georgia State has won five conference championships with one CAA title coming in 2006, the team's first year in the league. State has advanced to the NCAA Regionals in eight of the last nine seasons and has progressed to the NCAA Championship on four occasions.

Sjoholm claimed a tie for second in last year's CAA Championship and finished in fourth the previous year. Sophomore Tom Sherreard finished tied for 12th a year ago, while Jordan sat out the event.

Live scoring of the CAA Championships can be found at GolfStat.com and updates can be found at GeorgiaStateSports.com following second-round action.


Georgia State Individual Scores:
1 ? Joel Sjoholm ? 65, -6
T11 ? Tom Sherreard ? 73, +2
T23 ? Maurice Jordan ? 75, +4
T30 ? Brent Paul ? 76, +5
T38 ? Alex Castro ? 77, +6

 Team Results: