Panthers Finish Ninth in Strong Field at Brickyard

Men's Golf Mike Holmes/Sports Communications

Grey Seventh, Panthers Ninth at Brickyard Collegiate

MACON, GA. – Defending champion Jonathan Grey shot an opening-round 2-under 70 to lead Georgia State to a first-round 6-over 294 and a share of ninth place at the seventh annual Brickyard Collegiate Championship on Friday afternoon.

Grey shared low medalist honors with Georgia's Sam Straka last year en route to his second-straight victory to begin his collegiate career. The sophomore currently stands in a tie for seventh, five-strokes off the lead after making four birdies in the opening round.

“We got off to a good start, but gave a few strokes back on the second-nine,” head coach Joe Inman said. “The good thing is that we are still very much in this tournament, just 12-strokes off the lead. I think our mentality now is that we can play with some of the best in the nation, but we have to prove it over the next two days.”

Despite standing tied for ninth as Inman alluded to, the Panthers are just 12-strokes behind first-place Georgia Tech and five-strokes outside of the top-5.

Junior Davin White shot a first-round even par 72, making three birdies and three bogeys to stand in a tie for 18th.

Freshman Nathon Mallonee, making his collegiate debut, shot an opening-day 3-over 75 and stands tied for 42nd.

Junior Damon Stephenson stands tied for 61st after shooting a 5-over, 77. Stephenson made the turn at even par, however five bogeys on his second nine derailed a solid round.

Senior Tyler Gruca rounded out the Panthers line-up with a first-round 6-over 78 which left him tied for 67th.

Senior Grant Cagle, competing as an individual, is tied with Gruca for 67th after shooting 78.

Georgia Tech opened play with a 6-under 282 to lead Virginia Tech by one. Host Mercer is in third at 4-under, followed by South Florida in fourth at 2-under. Louisville is currently fifth at 1-over, with Georgia and Florida State standing tied for sixth at 3-over.

Georgia's Keith Mitchell, competing as an individual, opened the tournament with a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Georgia Tech's Ollie Schniederjans who shot 67. Furman's Wehman Hopke and Mercer's Emmanuel Kountakis are tied for third at 4-under, with South Florida's Rigel Fernandes and Louisville's Robin Sciot-Siegrist tied for fifth at 3-under.

Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com.

Georgia State will return to action Oct. 14-15 at the Panther hosted AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic. The third-year event will take place at Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth with teams playing 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

The event is free and open to the public. A college-am benefiting the program will take place on Sunday afternoon. Fans interested in playing can call the golf office or visit the website for more information.

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