Pinehurst, N.C. - Senior Brent Paul led the Georgia State men's golf team with an opening round 74 Friday in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship at the famed Pinehurst No. 8 course. The Panthers, looking to earn their third CAA title in their sixth year in the league, stand alone in fifth place following a first round 307.
Paul, who has earned a pair of top 20 finishes in two previous conference championships, stands in a tie for seventh place after an up-and-down first round saw him make four birdies, three bogeys and a triple bogey. He stands just two strokes off the lead with 36 holes to play.
After a slow start, with rain and a light cool wind for most of the day, as well as three freshmen in the line-up, Georgia State rebounded on its second nine to stand just 13 strokes behind the leaders.
"There is no doubt that we got off to a little bit of a slow start today," commented head coach Joe Inman after the round. "However, I like the way we played our second nine and if we can make a few more birdies each of the next two days and remove some of our bigger mistakes, I still feel as though we will be in contention on the back nine Sunday."
Senior Alan Fowler sits in a tie for 19th after an opening round 77. The Gainesville, Ga. product shot 3-over on his first nine, but rebounded with back-to-back birdies to open the second nine. Unfortunately, three straight bogeys to finish the day derailed his place among the top 10.
Freshmen Tyler Gruca and Victor Lavin are tied for 25th after the each shot 78 on Friday. Gruca, a walk-on in the fall, shot 40 on his first nine, before rebounding with a 38 on his second. Lavin shot 39-39 with four bogeys and a double bogey.
Freshman Ross Mclister opened with a 79 and is tied for 30th among the 55-player field. His lone birdie came on the par 4 first, which calmed his nerves after shooting 42 on his opening nine.
Since joining the CAA in 2006, the Panthers have won a pair of conference titles, 2006 and 2008, and lost in a one-hole playoff to VCU in 2009.
UNC Wilmington leads the field by two strokes following an opening round 6-over 294. James Madison, which led for most of the day, stands in second at 8-over, followed by George Mason in third at 14-over. Just ahead of Georgia State is VCU in fourth place at 16-over. Trailing the Panthers are Old Dominion and reigning champion Towson in a tie for sixth place at 21-over.
The first day of the championship ended with a four-way tie atop the leaderboard at even par. The opening round leaders include UNC Wilmington's Josh Brock, George Mason's Silas VanSky and Chad Mozingo and Ryan Vince of James Madison. In a tie for fifth, just one stroke off the lead is Towson's Nyasha Mauchaza and UNC Wilmington's Michael Taylor.
The 11-team field will continue play on Saturday with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. off both the first and tenth tees.
Live scoring for the 2011 CAA Championship will be available at GolfStat.com all weekend long. Full results and details will be posted at GeorgiaStateSports.com at the end of each round.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
