What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State opened the NCAA Tucson Regional in 12th place following a first round 303 at Gallery Golf Club.
* Freshman Nick Budd led the Panthers with an opening round 74 to sit tied for 34th.
* Georgia State will be looking to finish among the top five teams to qualify for its sixth NCAA Championship appearance since 2000.
MARANA, Ariz. – Georgia State opened the NCAA Tucson Regional in 12th place following a first round 15-over 303. Freshman Nick Budd led the Panthers with an opening round 74 at the Gallery Golf Club.
Georgia State, the No. 10 seed in the event, sits 16 strokes back of fifth which is where the Panthers will need to be after Wednesday to advance to the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., later this month.
Budd's unique round featured 16 pars and two bogeys as he stands tied for 34th with 36 holes to play.
“I would be lying if I didn't say we were disappointed by the way we played in the first round,” head coach Joe Inman said. “However, there is still a lot of golf to play and I don't think we are out of this just yet. We need to come out tomorrow, put up a really good round and see if we can then make a run on Wednesday.”
Senior JJ Grey opened with a 3-over 75 and is tied for 38th after making a pair of birdies.
Sophomore Alexander Herrmann added a first-round 4-over 76 and is tied for 49th. After shooting 1-under on his opening nine, he stumbled with a quadruple bogey on No. 1, his only mistake of the day.
Junior Nathan Mallonee and sophomore Max Herrmann are tied for 60th after rounds of 78. Herrmann stumbled with a pair of double bogeys, while Mallonee made a pair of triple bogeys.
No. 1 Stanford opened up a nine-stroke lead on the field following a 14-under 274 on Monday. No. 37 UAB is second at 5-under, followed by No. 24 Oregon in third at 3-under. No. 12 Wake Forest is fourth at 2-under, with No. 13 Cal at 1-under.
UC Riverside's Matt Lutz holds the individual lead following an opening round 66. Stanford's Franklin Huang and Wake Forest's Paul McBride are tied for second after each shot 67. Stanford's Maverick McNealy, Cal's K.K. Limbhasut and St. Mary's (Ca.) Connor Blick are tied for fourth at 4-under.
Live 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 Tech and Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, going off Hole No. 10 at 10:55 a.m. ET.
If Georgia State finishes among the top five teams, the Panthers will advance to the NCAA Championship May 27-June 1, in Eugene, Ore., at Eugene Country Club.
