Lightsey Leads Upstate At Seascape
10/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 27, 2008
First Round Results in PDF Format
Kitty Hawk, N.C. - Jamie Lightsey shot a career-best 70 in the first round of the ODU/Seascape Collegiate to lead Upstate into fourth place heading into Tuesday's final round as the Spartans turned in a 289 total Monday.
Upstate's 289 total is just four shots off the team lead held by fellow A-Sun foe Campbell, which opened with a 285. Two teams stand between Upstate and Campbell. Radford is second after shooting a 287, while Elon is third at 288. While the top four teams are separated by just four shots from top to bottom, there is also not much separation from Upstate's fourth-place spot down to 11th, a span of just 10 strokes.
Old Dominion is fifth after shooting a 290 and is followed by George Washington (292), Binghamton (292), James Madison (293), Drexel (295), Liberty (297), Towson (299), St. Bonaventure (303), Temple (303), George Mason (303) and St. Joseph's (311) in the 15-team tournament.
"This course is one that yields a lot of birdies and bogeys," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "A lot of teams had scores that ranged between 72 and 74. If you play the course smart, you're not going to shoot big numbers. The field is a pretty decent field with players who can play. The wind laid down for us a little today, but tomorrow is supposed to be difficult."
Lightsey was the man of the day for Upstate, turning in an even-par 70 to lead the Spartans. He is tied for eighth individually. He opened the tournament by three-putting his first green, but rallied with birdie putts the remainder of the day to get back to even-par for the tournament.
"Jamie played very well," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "He stumbled on the first hole but recovered and delevered the rest of the round. I am really proud of him turning in his career low round."
Josh Gallman and Baxter Culler carded a pair of 72s as the next-lowest Upstate golfers on the day. Michael Lawrence rounded out the scoring with a solid 75 in windy conditions on the North Carolina coast.
The 289 turned in by the Spartans was made all the more impressive as Upstate had no margin of error with only four golfers hitting the course Monday. Tyler Tucker was forced to sit out Monday's round after becoming ill. He spent most of the day in bed at the Seascape Resort with the hope of returning to the lineup for Tuesday's final round.
"It was a very impressive thing that the players teed off today with everyone knowing they needed to play well and turn in good scores," said Lawton. "It speaks volumes for them to play patiently and play the shots they needed to hit."
George Washington's Cole Turner turned in a strong 3-under-par 67 to open a one-shot lead over Radford's Sean Goshert and Elon's Jayson Judy.
