Tallahassee, Fla. - Freshman Ross Mclister fired an opening round 71 to lead the Georgia State men's golf team to a tie for seventh place after day one of the Seminole Intercollegiate hosted by Florida State. The Panthers shot 296 on Friday morning at Southwood Country Club, a par-71 course on the south side of Tallahassee.
Mclister's even-par round is a season low and puts him just three strokes off the lead. The native of Cardiff, Wales made three birdies on the front side and led the tournament after an opening nine 35. Playing in just his fourth tournament, the freshman had been averaging 79.0 per round entering play on Friday.
"I am extremely proud of the way that Ross played," commented head coach Joe Inman. "Just two weeks ago in Wilmington, he made seven birdies in his second round, but stumbled with a few mistakes. Today, he was able to make a few birdies and play some very smart golf. I look forward to watching him continue to develop and play strong over the weekend."
Senior Alan Fowler, redshirt-junior Jared Cagle and freshman walk-on Tyler Gruca each shot opening round 75's and stand tied for 39th.
Cagle shared the early lead with Mclister, making a birdie on the par-4 fourth hole, to shoot 35 on the opening nine.
Senior walk-on Tommy Caswell rounded out the five-man line-up and shot an opening day 82 to stand tied for 88th with 36 holes to play.
No. 18 Arkansas leads by 10 strokes over host Florida State. The Razorbacks were the only team to finish under-par, shooting a 7-under 277. The Seminoles opened with a 3-over 287. Mississippi State stands in third at 5-over, followed by Kennesaw State in fourth at 6-over. No. 35 North Texas rounds out the top five at 8-over par.
The Panthers are tied with Houston and Cincinnati entering Saturday's second round and will be paired with the two schools at 8 a.m. off the first tee.
Sebastrian Cappelen of Arkansas and Carlos Ortiz of North Texas lead the field after each shot an opening round 3-under par 68. They lead by one stroke over a group of five golfers at 2-under par, including Cincinnati's Zack Bates, Kennesaw State's Ben Greene, Troy's Zach Portemont and a pair from Arkansas, Austin Cook and Ethan Tracy.
Following this weekend, the Panthers will have just two more warm-ups before the CAA Championships. State will return to the Administaff/Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Country Club on April 2-3.
Live scoring can be followed at Golfstat.com throughout play this weekend.
