What you need to know:
* Georgia State, which entered the weekend as the defending champions at the Irish Creek Intercollegiate, shot rounds of 288 and 292 on Saturday to stand tied for eighth.
* Junior J.J. Grey is tied for 19th following rounds of 70 and 73, standing at 1-over with 18 holes to play.
* Fans can follow live scoring of the final day of play at GolfStat.com.
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Georgia State men's golf team shot rounds of 288 and 292 on the first day of the Irish Creek Intercollegiate and stand in a tie for eighth-place entering the final round of play on Sunday.
The Panthers, which entered play as the defending champions, were led by junior J.J. Grey who shot rounds of 70 and 73 to stand at 1-over par and tied for 19th place. Georgia State was ranked No. 64 in the latest Golfweek rankings entering the final event of the regular season.
“We are all disappointed with the way we performed today,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We reverted back to our old ways in many forms. Although we made a lot of birdies, we also made way too many big numbers and it cost us dearly. Sunday's round will go a long way to determining our postseason fate.”
The team combined for 10 double bogeys or worse over the 36 holes.
Grey's opening round 70 included four birdies, while he made five in the afternoon.
Senior Damon Stephenson shot rounds of 71 and 74 to stand 3-over and tied for 27th at The Club at Irish Creek. Stephenson made two birdies and an eagle in his opening round and followed with three birdies in the afternoon.
Freshman Alexander Herrmann added rounds of 73 and 74 for the Panthers to stand at 5-over and tied for 44th. He made eight birdies on the day.
Freshman Max Herrmann shot back-to-back rounds of 74 and is tied for 47th at 6-over. He made two birdies in each round.
Senior Davin White rounded out the line-up with rounds of 78 and 71 to stand in a tie for 53rd at 7-over. White made seven birdies over 36 holes Saturday.
Sophomore Nathan Mallonee, who is competing as an individual, shot back-to-back rounds of 77 and is tied for 73rd at 12-over.
No. 24 North Florida shot 284 and 277 to stand at 7-under par following the first day to open a two-stroke lead with 18 holes to play. No. 26 Kennesaw State stands second at 5-under, followed by host Charlotte in third at 1-under. No. 17 South Florida is fourth at even par, followed by East Carolina in fifth at 1-over.
Kennesaw State's Fredrik Nilehn leads the field at 8-under par following rounds of 66 and 68. UNCW's Trey Guy is alone in second at 6-under, followed by the Charlotte duo of Victor Wiggins and Daniel Brantley in third at 5-under. South Florida's Rigel Fernandes and North Florida's Taylor Hancock are tied for fifth at 4-under par.
The final round is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. ET shotgun start on Sunday. Live scoring of the event will be available at GolfStat.com.
Following the event, Georgia State will return to the course for the Sun Belt Conference Championship at The Raven in Miramar, Fla., April 19-21.
