Georgia State senior Tom Sherreard fired an opening round 71 (+1), playing as an individual, at the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional on the 7,182 yard par-70 Crabapple Course at the Capital City Club in Alpharetta, Ga. Thursday.
"I thought Tom played well today," said Georgia State head coach Joe Inman. "He was striking the ball well and finding the right spots on the green against some difficult pin placements. The greens are firm and putts can run eight feet by if you get too aggressive, so I think he did what he had to do to give himself a chance this weekend."
Sherreard qualified for the NCAA tournament as an individual after finishing the season as the 156th-ranked golfer in the nation.
The Maidstone, England native finished the first round in a tie for 13th place, finishing tied for second among individuall qualifiers.
Sherreard's round began rocky with a bogey at the third, but the All-CAA First Team performer bounced back with three birdies in the last four holes on the front nine to card a 33 (-2) going out.
On the ninth hole, Sherreard sank a 20 foot downhill putt to drop to two-under par and grab a share of second place overall.
The back nine saw Sherreard bogey holes 10 and 13 on the way to a one-over par 38 (+3) coming in.
To advance to the NCAA Championship, Sherreard must finish as the top individual not on a qualifying team. The top five teams advance from the regional to the championship.
His opening round 71 puts Sherreard in good shape to chase his personal best three-round total at an NCAA Regional, a 211 (-5) shot at the 2009 NCAA Southeast Regional on RedTail Golf Club (par 72).
At the end of the first round, four golfers share the lead at two-under par. Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State, John Tyler Griffin of Georgia Tech, Robbie Fillmore of BYU, and Jonathan Randolph of Mississippi each fired 68s on Thursday.
The second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. with golfers teeing off of both the first and 10th tees. Live scoring is available at www.GolfStat.com. Full details and results will be posted to www.GeorgiaStateSports.com at the close of competition.
