What you need to know:
* After an impressive opening round 289, Georgia State, playing a man-down, struggled in the afternoon to shot 305 and stands 11th entering Tuesday's final round.
* Three Panthers are in the top 30, led by freshman Alexander Herrmann who is 1-over after 36 holes.
* This marks the Panthers third trip to California since 2007.
VALENCIA, Calif. – Following a 1-over 289 on Monday morning, the Georgia State men's golf team played a man-down in the afternoon and shot 305 to drop into 11th place at the Jones Invitational with one round to play.
Three Panthers are in the top 30, but after an injury to senior Davin White late in the first round caused Georgia State to play with just four in the afternoon, meaning all scores would have to count.
Alexander Herrmann shot rounds of 72 and 73 to stand at 1-over par and tied for 20th entering Tuesday's final round. The freshman made 10 birdies over the course of 36 holes at Valencia Country Club on Monday.
“The good news is that we made a lot of birdies on Monday,” head coach Joe Inman said. “However, all of those birdies were taken away by way too many big numbers and mistakes that cost us. We put ourselves in a great position after the first round, but didn't step up in the afternoon when we needed to and that is what I am most disappointed about.”
Senior Damon Stephenson and sophomore Nathan Mallonee are tied for 26th at 3-over. Stephenson shot rounds of 74 and 73, while Mallonee shot 72 and 75.
Junior J.J. Grey, who opened the tournament with an impressive 1-under 71, struggled in the afternoon and shot an 84 and stands at 11-over and tied for 68th.
White, who shot a 75 in the morning, withdrew before the second round of play began.
Senior Gus Wagoner, competing as an individual, shot rounds of 79 and 82 to stand 77th.
Southern Cal leads the 15-team field at 11-under par. Kennesaw State stands second at 5-under, followed by Winthrop in third at 2-under. Northwestern is in fourth-place at 2-over par, while Sam Houston State and BYU are tied for fifth at 7-over.
Kennesaw State's Termoana Beaucousin leads the 80-man field at 9-under par following rounds of 66 and 69. Winthrop's Zach Seabolt is second at 3-under, followed by a group of five golfers tied for third at 4-under.
Live scoring of Tuesday's final round can be found at BirdieFire.com.
Following the event, Georgia State will return to the course in two weeks for the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn, March 9-10. It will be the first of four tournaments in the month of March.
