What You Need to Know:
* The Georgia State men's golf team shot an opening round 1-over 285 to stand tied for ninth at the inaugural Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz.
* Senior Nathan Mallonee led the Panthers with a 2-under 69 on Friday and stands tied for 23rd.
* Kent State shot an opening round 20-under 264 to lead the 54-hole event. Kent State's Josh Whalen leads by one stroke following a 7-under 64.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Led by an opening round 2-under 69 from senior Nathan Mallonee, the Georgia State men's golf team shot a 1-over 285 on Friday to stand tied for ninth following the first round of the inaugural Maui Jim Invitational at Mirabel Golf Club.
Kent State shot a 20-under 264 to take a five-stroke lead over Baylor heading into Saturday's second round. The Bears stands second at 15-under par with Kansas and LSU tied for third at 14-under par. South Carolina rounds out the top five at 11-under par. Georgia State is tied with Cal for ninth.
Kent State's Josh Whalen shot an opening round 7-under 64 to open a one-stroke lead. South Carolina's Scott Stevens, Kent State's Ian Holt and LSU's Luis Gagne are tied for second at 6-under. Baylor teammates Braden Bailey and Garrett May, along with South Carolina's Ben Dietrich and Kansas' Daniel Sutton round out the top five at 5-under par.
Mallonee stands tied for 23rd following a round that included three birdies and a bogey.
“We did some good things and did some bad things today,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We made a good amount of birdies, but too many big numbers to put up a good team number. Hopefully we can continue to make birdies over the next two rounds and move up the leaderboard a bit.”
Sophomore Nathan Williams made five birdies en route to an even par 71 and stands tied for 37th with 36 holes to play.
Junior Alex Herrmann added a 1-over 72 to sit tied for 51st after making three birdies, while sophomore Nick Budd added a 2-over 73 with six birdies to stand tied for 62nd.
Junior Max Herrmann rounded out the line-up with a 4-over 75 and stands tied for 76th.
Freshman Josh Edgar, making his collegiate debut, shot a 1-over 72 and is tied for 51st after making three birdies.
The Panthers will be paired with Houston and UAB on Saturday going off at 2:10 p.m ET. Tee times for the field begin at 10 a.m. ET off Holes No. 1 and No. 10.
Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com. Fans can follow @GaStateGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the event.
Following this week's tournament, the Panthers will return home to host the sixth annual AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic at Berkeley Hills Country Club Oct. 16-18.
