Chattanooga third at Tar Heel Intercollegiate
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Chattanooga’s Ewan Scott missed his collegiate career low card by a single shot Friday, firing a 4-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Tar Heel Intercollegiate.
Scott was steady in the opening round with an eagle, three birdies and 13 pars offsetting a single bogey. He has just nine bogeys in his first 72 holes this season. He hit 11 fairways and 15 greens in traversing the 7,242-yard UNC Finley Golf Course Tract.
Liam Johnston turned in his third straight par-or-better card with an even-par total of 72. Brooks Thomas and Wes Gosselin each tallied 1-over 73s, while Andrew Weathers had the drop score with an 80.
The Mocs are tied for third at 2-under 286. They’re level with VCU and East Carolina, four behind second-place Charlotte at 282. Host North Carolina has a nine-shot advantage after a 15-under 273 Friday.
Scott is in fifth individually, two strokes behind leader Bryce Howell of Furman. Howell shot 66 to stand one ahead of the Tar Heel trio of Ben Griffin, William Register and Brandon Dalinka at minus-5.
The second round starts Saturday at 8:50 a.m. for the Mocs. Weathers leads off No. 1 followed by Gosselin (9:00), Thomas (9:10), Johnston (9:20) and Scott (9:30). The Mocs are paired with GRU Augusta, Gardner-Webb and Mercer.
Mercer tied for sixth at Tar Heel Intercollegiate
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Mercer University men’s golf team wrapped up Friday’s opening round of the Tar Heel Intercollegiate in a tie for sixth place. Sophomore Emmanuel Kountakis paced the Bears with a 2-under 70, finishing the first day of action tied for ninth overall.
Mercer’s day-one total of 287 (-1) left the team just one stroke out of third place. The host Tar Heels led everyone at the end of the opening day of play, firing a 273 to take a commanding nine-stroke lead over second-place Charlotte.
Kountakis carded four birdies and just a pair of bogeys to remain within four strokes of the lead. Trey Rule also registered a sub-par score for the Bears, using a 33 on the front nine en route to an 18-hole total of 71.
Freshman Jerry Ren had a strong outing in his collegiate debut, booking birdies on his final two holes to end the day with an even-par score of 72.
Jeffrey Heinicka rounded out the scoring for Mercer with a total of 73, while Sean Smothers finished with a 77. Evan Usry, who competed as an individual, used a 37 on the first nine holes to card a 79.
The second round of action at the UNC Finley Course begins Saturday at 8 a.m.
Furman’s Howell leads Tar Heel Intercollegiate; Paladins 10th
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Furman sophomore Bryce Howell (-6) leads the Tar Heel Intercollegiate at the par-72, 7,242-yard UNC Finley Golf Course following the first round of play on Friday.
Howell, who fired a 66 in the opening round, teed off of No. 10 and parred the first four holes before recording back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to make the turn at 2-under. He birdied four out of five holes beginning with No. 2, finishing the round one stroke ahead of Brandon Dalinka (-5), William Register (-5), and Ben Griffin (-5), all of North Carolina, who each carded a 67 in the first round of competition.
Paladin junior Preston Cole (E) shot an even 72 with three birdies, including consecutive birdies on No. 3 and No. 4, to enter Saturday’s play tied for 30th, while rookie Adam Garrett (+3), who is tied for 69th place, tallied five birdies to card a 75 in Friday’s round.
Senior Michael Borton (+4) birdied the par-5 No. 6 and the par-4 No. 11 on Friday and enters Saturday’s round tied for 78th after scoring a 76 in round-one play. Junior Preston Heyward (+6) carded a 78 in the opening round after recording four birdies, tying for 84th place.
North Carolina (-15) holds a nine-stroke lead over Charlotte (-6), while VCU (-2), East Carolina (-2), and Chattanooga (-2) are all tied for third. The Paladins (+1) are in 10th place entering Saturday’s play.
The Paladins will tee off at 8 a.m. on Saturday from hole No. 1 in the tournament’s second round.
UNCG 11th at Tar Heel Intercollegiate
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – UNCG sophomore men’s golfer Carter Jenkins and freshman Josh Stockwell both posted 1-under rounds of 71 on the first day of the Tar Heel Intercollegiate on Friday. Their play led the Spartans to an 11th-place showing at the UNC Finley Golf Course with a 2-over-par 290 score in the first of three rounds this weekend.
Tournament host North Carolina had the round of the day, posting a 15-under 273 score to lead the event over second-place Charlotte at 6-under 282. North Carolina had three different golfers post 5-under 67s Friday, while Furman’s Bryce Howell leads the event individually with a 6-under-par 66 on the 2015 NCAA Regional course.
Jenkins opened the round strong with two straight birdies to start the season before finishing with four birdies and three bogeys to finish in a tie for 20th.
Stockwell opened his collegiate career with an under-par score, notching four birdies and three bogeys. He was 3-under through 16 holes but tallied bogeys on two of the final three holes. His 1-under par 71 is the lowest first-round score for a freshman in his inaugural event since Roy Dixon posted a 68 in his first career collegiate round in 2011 at the VCU Shootout.
Junior Taylor Coalson was third on the team Friday with a 1-over par 73, tied for 43rd overall. Coalson carded two birdies, one bogey and a double bogey on the afternoon to go along with 14 par scores. Dixon rounded out the Spartans’ counting scores with a 3-over-par 75, while sophomore Jake McGlone was the fifth golfer with a 6-over-par 78. Senior Alex Ehlert played as an individual and carded a 6-over-par 78, as well.
The Spartans will tee off on round two Saturday morning on hole No. 11 with tee times from 8-8:40 a.m.
Western Carolina tied for eighth at The Invitational at The Ocean Course
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Western Carolina has two golfers inside the individual top 10 after the season-opening round at The Invitational at The Ocean Course, hosted by the College of Charleston at the Kiawah Island Resort. Freshman Bright Julamool sits tied for third, while senior J.T. Poston is in a seventh-place tie with 36 holes remaining in the first tournament of the fall.
As a team, WCU is tied for eighth with an opening-round 298 at the par-72, 7,115-yard Ocean Course.
Paired with golfers from Georgia State and Charleston Southern, WCU opens play in the second round with tee times at 1:20 p.m. The third and final round to be played on Sunday morning.
Julamool carded an opening-round, 3-under-par 69 to pace the Catamount side in his first career round. The rookie from Bangkok, Thailand, had a very clean opening day, scoring three birdies and 15 pars – tied for the most in the tournament in the first round – in his first collegiate round. Julamool stands amidst a four-way tie for third, just two strokes off the lead.
Poston shot a 2-under-par 70 and is in a two-way tie for seventh place after 18 holes. Poston was 3-under-par through 16 holes before a bogey on the par-3 No. 17 left him at 2-under for the round.
WCU freshman Jackson Bishop shot a 6-over-par 78 to sit in a tie for 52nd overall, countering six bogeys and one double-bogey with three birdies in his first collegiate round. Senior Matthew Turner shot 81 in a tie for 65th overall and junior Tyler Lail carded 87 to stand tied for 79th overall to round out the Catamount scoring five.
South Florida carded an opening-round 3-under-par 282 to lead the 14-team field by nine strokes over second-place College of Charleston (291). Duke and Kentucky are 10 strokes off the pace with matching scores of 4-over-par 292 in a tie for third, while Georgia Southern is fifth with an opening-round 295.
Kentucky’s Cooper Musselman leads the field after an opening-round 5-under-par 67, with John Jonas (68) from the College of Charleston in second place a stroke back.