Tallahassee, Fla. -Playing in a top-heavy field, Georgia State opened play at the Seminole Intercollegiate on Friday in a tie for 14th place, shooting an opening round 12-over 296. Coming off his first career victory, freshman Damon Stephenson rebounded from a tough start to shoot a 1-over 72 and stands in a tie for 30th with 36 holes to play.
Georgia State got off to a great start and stood just 2-over par after nine holes, but stumbled on the difficult back nine of Southwood Country Club, one of the top ranked courses in the state of Florida.
Stephenson opened the front nine with a double bogey at the fifth and a bogey at the eighth, before making two birdies to shoot 33 on the back nine.
"I thought we got off to a great start today," commented head coach Joe Inman. "Unfortunately, we did not finish strong and for us to compete at the level we want to, each of our players has to commit themselves the entire round.
"Damon did a good job of rebounding for a tough first nine holes today. It can sometimes be tough for freshman to rebound like that, but he did a nice job. If we can play as well as we did on the front nine for 18 holes tomorrow, we can easily jump back into the top half of the leaderboard."
Senior Clemens Dvorak got off to his best start of any round this season and was 3-under after 10 holes. An unfortunate stretch of holes near the end of his round led to an opening round 74 to stand in a tie for 52nd entering the weekend.
With rounds of 75, a trio of Georgia State golfers stand tied for 62nd, including sophomores Tyler Gruca and Grant Cagle, along with freshman Davin White.
Cagle had the most up-and-down round, making four birdies, but also a pair of double bogeys.
ACC powers Florida State and Georgia Tech share the lead after each squad shot opening day 6-under par, 278. Both are ranked in the top 20 of the latest Golfweek rankings. Mercer stands in third following a round of 281 to stand just three strokes back, while Kennesaw State and Charlotte are tied for fourth at 1-under, five strokes off the lead.
Kennesaw State's Jeff Karlsson leads the field after an opening round 6-under 65 that included a 29 on the back nine, as he made an eagle, five birdies and a bogey. Florida State's Chase Seifert and South Florida's Trey Valentine are tied for second at 4-under, while a trio of golfers stand tied for fourth at 3-under, including Mercer's Thomas Holmes, Jacksonville's Jamey Salmon and Georgia Tech's James White.
The 18-team field will continue play on Saturday and Sunday with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Following this weekend's tournament, the Panthers will return to the course next weekend for the Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville, S.C.
Live stats of the Seminole Intercollegiate can be found at GolfStat.com.
