SAN ANTONIO – The Georgia State men's golf team opened with a 4-over, 292, to stand in eighth place following the first round of the NCAA Regional at Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio on Thursday afternoon. Junior Damon Stephenson led the Panthers with an opening round 72 and is tied for 15th.
Georgia State, ranked No. 43 in the nation, needs to finish among the top five teams to advance to the NCAA Championship in Hutchinson, Kan., next week. The Panthers are currently just two strokes off a tie for fifth. GSU is also currently just four strokes out of a tie for third. The program has advanced to the championship four times since 2000.
The Panthers, who are making their 11th NCAA Regional appearance since 1999, entered the postseason having won a school-record three straight tournaments, including the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
“Overall, I thought we did well today,” head coach Joe Inman said. “Only one player on our team has played in a regional before, so to come out and be in the position we are in is great. We knew it was important to put ourselves in a good position on the first day and we did that.
“With two rounds on the course now under our belt, I think our guys are starting to get more comfortable with it. That is a great thing and I think tomorrow we can come out and put up a nice round to put us in a good position entering Saturday.”
Stephenson is tied for 15th following his even par round. After a couple of early bogeys, the junior settled down and made four birdies on the back nine, including back-to-back at holes No. 13 and 14.
Senior Tyler Gruca and junior Davin White each shot rounds of 1-over, 73, and are tied for 24th in the 75-player field.
White made a pair of birdies on the back nine, including a beautiful up-and-down from the front bunker on hole No. 14.
Gruca, who is making his first NCAA appearance, got off to a great start with three birdies in his first seven holes, but stumbled a little coming in with back-to-back bogeys en route to his 73.
Freshman Nathan Mallonee stands tied for 34th following the first round after shooting a 2-over 74. Mallonee made a pair of birdies as he joined a select group of Panther freshman to ever play in NCAA Regional play.
Sophomore J.J. Grey rounded out the Panthers line-up with a first round 4-over 76. Grey, who nearly advance to the NCAA Championship as an individual last year, made just one birdie during the round and is tied for 57th.
No. 6 Georgia shot a 7-under 281 to open a four stroke lead after the first round of play. College of Charleston is second at 3-under, followed by No. 7 UCF and No. 31 SMU in a tie for third at even par. No. 18 UCLA and TCU are tied for fifth at 2-over with No. 42 Georgia Southern standing seventh at 3-over. No. 19 Vanderbilt is ninth at 7-over, three strokes behind the Panthers.
TCU's Julien Brun, ranked No. 17 in the country and SMU's Bryson Dechambeau, ranked No. 23, are tied for the individual lead following rounds of 5-under, 67. TCU's Paul Barjon, Georgia's Greyson Sigg and UCF's Kyle Wilshire are tied for third at 4-under.
Live hole-by-hole scoring of the entire 54-hole tournament will be available at Golfstat.com and on the Golfstat mobile app.
Georgia State will be paired with Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt for the second round on Friday. The group will tee off at 9 a.m. ET off the No. 10 tee.
