University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Charleston Shootout
Upstate Stands 8th at Charleston Shootout
2/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Charleston, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's golf team turned in rounds of 292 and 289 on the first day of the Charleston Shootout and stands eighth heading into the final round of tournament on Tuesday.
The Charleston Shootout is being played at the Links at Stono Ferry. The teams started the day in rainy and cool conditions, but the weather did not hamper the scoring. Upstate is eighth with a 581 total, but is just 12 shots out of second place, held by 46th-ranked Augusta State. The Spartans are 10 strokes out of fourth and just six out of a top five finish.
"It was rainy and cool when we started the round, and I thought that might cause the scores to be high. But, the course is in great shape and the hole locations were fair. The teams in front of us converted more putts and that is the difference between being a few under and a few over," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton.
Florida, ranked 25th in the nation, opened with rounds of 282 and 275 and owns the lead with a 557 total. Augusta State is second at 569, 12 shots back of the Gators. Radford is third at 571 and is followed on the leaderboard by Presbyterian College (575), Charleston Southern (575), College of Charleston (577), Stephen F. Austin (580), Upstate (581), Longwood (590), Gardner-Webb (592), High Point (597), Western Kentucky (602), Navy (605) and Stetson (611).
"The field is strong and 1-2 shots per player will make a difference tomorrow. The top five spots are up for grabs. I am excited that we are in position to make a run at it," said Lawton.
The tournament format has teams playing six players and counting four scores. Upstate's Adam Goins (Gaffney, S.C.) paced the Spartans on the day. He opened with a 1-under-par 71 in the first round and carded a 72 in the second. At 1-under for the tournament, he is 13th in the field of 90 players.
Brian Horton (Boiling Springs, S.C.) had a solid opening day as well. He recorded rounds of 74 and 73 and is tied for 27th with a 147 total. Brad Sill (Spartanburg) is tied for 43rd after rounds of 74 and 76. Matthew Hopper (Gaffney, S.C.) is tied for 51st after rounds of 73 and 78 for a 151 total.
The two biggest turnarounds of the day came from Danny Brock (Simpsonville, S.C.) and Tyler Comer (Spartanburg). Brock opened with an 83, but came back to post a 72 in the afternoon round, an improvement of 11 strokes. Comer opened with an 81 and turned in a 72 in the second round.
"We started both rounds with some bogeys, but then got it going. Adam was steady all day with very few mistakes. After falling 5-over in his second round, Tyler stormed back with a birdie barrage like I have never seen to shoot even par. Danny really came through for us in the second round. I am proud that all six guys contributed for us today," said Lawton.
Florida's TJ Vogel owns the individual lead. He shot rounds of 69 and 65 and leads by three strokes with a 134 total.
