Hilton Head, S.C. - Led by the strong play of Damon Stephenson and Tyler Gruca, Georgia State opened a seven-stroke lead over the field in the seventh annual Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate on Monday afternoon. With 18 holes to play Tuesday, Stephenson leads by one-stroke lead over Gruca.
Georgia State was the lone school in the 17-team field to break 300 in both rounds on Monday, opening with a 297 before shooting 294 in the afternoon to stand at 15-over through 36 holes. The Panthers lead is seven over Davidson and 10-strokes over Furman.
Stephenson, a freshman coming off a career-best tie for 22nd at the Seabest Seafood Intercollegiate, was the lone golfer to break par on Monday, shooting rounds of 72 and 71 to stand at 1-under par.
"I am really proud of this team right now," commented head coach Joe Inman. "They have been practicing hard and really working on all aspects of their games. Today it paid off. For it to be truly rewarding, we need to finish the tournament strong tomorrow.
"Damon and Tyler played extremely well today. Damon is adjusting well to collegiate golf and really finding his swing this spring. Tyler returned to the form that we saw in the fall. I expect both of them to play well on Tuesday and continue to have great spring seasons."
Gruca, who finished the fall with five straight rounds of par or better, shot rounds of 73 and 71 to stand at even par after 36 holes.
Senior Clemens Dvorak is in a tie for 17th following rounds of 76 and 75 while Ross Mclister is tied for 30th, shooting rounds of 76 and 77 on day one.
Redshirt-sophomore Sam Jandel rounded out the Panthers line-up with rounds of 81 and 78 to finish tied for 60th.
Redshirt-senior Jared Cagle, competing as an individual, fired rounds of 75 and 78 to stand tied with Mclister for 30th.
Davidson stands a 22-over after day one, while Furman, which shot the low round of the day, 292, is three strokes behind in third at 25-over. Louisville stands in fourth at 27-over, followed by Presbyterian Collegiate in fifth at 27-over.
Davidson's Richard Fountain is currently in third place, two strokes behind Stephenson and one behind Gruca. Furman's Matthew Broome and Francis Marion's Fredrik Sporck are tied for fourth, both 3-over par.
The Panthers will return to the course for Tuesday's final round with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
Following this week's tournament, the Panthers will return to the course March 9-11 at the Seminole Intercollegiate hosted by Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. The 54-hole event will take place at Southwood Country Club.
Team Results (Two rounds)
1 Georgia State Univ. 297 294 591 +15
2 Davidson College 303 295 598 +22
3 Furman University 309 292 601 +25
4 Louisville, U. of 306 297 603 +27
5 Presbyterian College 309 297 606 +30
6 South Carolina-Aiken 309 301 610 +34
7 Richmond, Univ. of 309 302 611 +35
8 Radford University 311 301 612 +36
9 Western Carolina U. 314 304 618 +42
10 Samford University 313 306 619 +43
11 Wm. & Mary, Coll. of 308 312 620 +44
12 Hartford, Univ. of 311 310 621 +45
Francis Marion U. 313 308 621 +45
14 Ohio University 319 303 622 +46
15 Marshall University 325 307 632 +56
De Paul University 323 309 632 +56
17 Elon University 322 319 641 +65
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