Eagles Lead the Field at Mason Rudolph Championships
Georgia Southern shoots even par in opening round
Franklin, Tenn. - The Georgia Southern Golf team posted an even par 284 on Friday to lead Oklahoma (+1) and Middle Tennessee State (+1) by one stroke after one round of play at the Mason Rudolph Championships. Freshman Scott Wolfes (St. Simons Island, Ga.) is tied for first after firing a 2-under 69 and is followed closely by Charlie Martin (LaGrange, Ga.) and Lewis Gruber (Tallahassee, Fla.) who both carded one-under par 70s.
"All of the stuff we focused on during our practice sessions really paid off today," said Head Coach Larry Mays. "We talked about having patience and letting the game come to us. Now we just have to go out there and back it up the next two days."
The Mason Rudolph Championships is hosted by Vanderbilt University on the par-71, 7,100 yard South Course at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. Several premier programs make up this year's field including teams from the SEC and the Southern Conference.
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Davidson Golf's Fountain In Tie For Lead After Rd. 1 of Mason Rudolph
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Sophomore Richard Fountain picked up right where he left off last season, as the Davidson golfer is locked in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard after firing a two-under-par 69 Friday in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship hosted by Vanderbilt at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
As a team, the Wildcats are tied for fourth in the season-opening event with defending tournament champion Memphis at 288, four-over par. Defending Southern Conference champion Georgia Southern (284, even) leads the field by one stroke over Oklahoma and Middle Tennessee State.
Junior John Skeadas finished the first day for Davidson in a nine-way tie for 11th place, two strokes behind Fountain at an even-par 71. Sophomore Sam Echikson followed Skeadas by two strokes with a 73. Senior Jackson Taylor and freshman Todd Eckstein shot four-over-par 75's.
Fountain is tied for first at two-under with Mississippi's Joe David, Oklahoma's Charlie Saxon and Georgia Southern's Scott Wolfes.
SoCon foe College of Charleston is one stroke behind Davidson in sixth and is followed by Mississippi (290), South Carolina (291) and Vanderbilt (292). Akron, Belmont and SoCon member Samford are tied for 10th at 293. Georgia State (301) and SoCon member Western Carolina round out the 14-team field.
Play continues on the par-71, 7,100-yard course Saturday with the second round. The 54-hole tournament will conclude with the third and final round Sunday.
Cougars Complete First Round of Mason Rudolph Invitational
FRANKLIN, TENN. - After shooting a team score of 5-over 289 the College of Charleston men's golf team is in sixth-place after the first round of the Mason Rudolph Invitational Friday at the Legends Club of Tennessee.
The Cougars trail Georgia Southern (E), Middle Tennessee St. (+1), Oklahoma (+1) Memphis (+4) and Davidson (+4).
Junior John Duke Hudson led the Cougars in the first round of competition as he carded a first-round score of 70 on the par-71 course. Hudson started with three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and nine pars on the back and is tied for fifth-place individually.
Sophomore Alex Ellis also had a solid round of golf as he shot an even-par 71 on the day with three birdies and three bogeys and is tied for 11th.
Head Coach Mark McEntire said his team battled throughout the round and put themselves in good position moving forward.
"We got off to a tough start in tough conditions," he said. "Our players fought hard and never gave up. We are only five back of the lead and felt like we left some out there. With a good round tomorrow we will have a chance to win a golf tournament on Sunday."
Teams will tee off tomorrow in the second round of the tournament at 9:30 ET. Live scoring will continue to be available at golfstat.com
College of Charleston Results
T5. John Duke Hudson 70 (-1)
T11. Alex Ellis 71 (E)
T27. Neil Gowan 73 (+2)
T47. Henry Smart 75 (+4)
T74. Seth Stuart 80 (+9)
Team Results
1 Georgia Southern E (284)
T2 Oklahoma +1 (285)
T2 Middle Tennessee St. +1 (285)
T4 Davidson +4 (288)
T4 Memphis +4 (288)
6 College of Charleston +5 (289)
7 Mississippi +6 (290)
8 South Carolina +7 (291)
9 Vanderbilt +8 (292)
T10 Belmont +9 (293)
T10 Samford +9 (293)
T10 Akron +9 (293)
13 Georgia State +17 (301)
14 Western Carolina +22 (306)