University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Sacramento State Invitational
Goins in Second at Sacramento State Invitational
3/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Elk Grove, Calif. – USC Upstate standout and Gaffney native Adam Goins shot rounds of 70 and 69 on the first day of the Sacramento State Invitational and is in second place heading into Tuesday's final round to lead the Spartan men's golf team Monday afternoon.
Upstate is tied for fifth in the 14-team tournament being played at Valley Hi Country Club. The Spartans shot rounds of 299 and 283 and stand tied for fifth with Southern Utah at 582. Upstate is 10 strokes out of the lead held by UC Santa Barbara (572). The Spartans shot all four countable rounds at par or better in the second round.
Goins was simply outstanding on the day, carding seven birdies and only making two bogeys to shoot 5-under-par on the day. He began his first and second rounds on the fifth hole. In the first round, he birdied the ninth hole, his fifth hole of the day, and played the entire back nine at even-par with a birdie and bogey. He birdied the fourth to finish at 2-under for the round. In the second 18 of the day, he opened with eight consecutive pars before birdying three of his next four holes. He again birdied the fourth to close out his round and finish at 3-under 69 in the round and 5-under for the day.
"Adam is in great position once again and his precision off the tee was near perfect," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "No costly mistakes on a long day were key to his success."
In addition to Goins, Brad Sill (Spartanburg, S.C.) continued his solid play and stands tied for 11th at 1-over for the tournament. He opened with a 75 with two birdies and five bogeys, then rebounded with a 2-under 70 in the second round. He made three birdies on the back nine before shooting even after a triple bogey on the 18th. However, he rallied to birdie two of the next three holes to shoot 70 and get within striking distance of a Top 5 finish.
UC Santa Barbara owns the lead heading into the final round on Tuesday with rounds of 282 and 290 for a 572 total. Cal State Fullerton and Chico State are tied for second at 574 and are followed by Boise State (576), Upstate (582), Southern Utah (582), Sacramento State (584), Loyola Marymount (587), Houston Baptist (590), Cal State Bakersfield (592), South Dakota (598), Seattle (605), Texas-Pan American (606) and Nebraska Omaha (608).
"It took us awhile to get used to the dramatic difference in conditions on the west coast," said Lawton. "Fast poa greens that were much more firm to pitch to caused us to post some high scores early. We really adjusted well in the second round to move into contention. To post all four scores at par or better show the guys stayed with it. I am proud of them for that."
Brian Horton (Boiling Springs, S.C.) opened with a 76, then shaved four strokes off of his score in the second round to shoot even at 72. He stands tied for 31st with a 148 total and made four birdies on the day. Ryan Cornfield (Dudley, England) opened the tournament with a 78, but, like the rest of his Spartan teammates, lowered his score in the second round to shoot even-par 72 with four birdies. He is tied for 45th with a 150 total. Matthew Hopper (Gaffney, S.C.) opened with an 83, then turned in a 77 in the second round for a six-stroke turnaround and a 160 total.
Goins will begin the final round chasing UC Santa Barbara's Glen Scher for the individual championship. Scher shot rounds of 67 and 70 for a 7-under 137 total. He leads Goins by two strokes.
