Upstate 5th at A-Sun Men's Golf Championships
4/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Braselton, Ga. – The USC Upstate men's golf team got a steady opening round from a pair of freshmen, Ryan Cornfield and Sebastian Lopez Bulla, to shoot a 308 and open the 2013 A-Sun Championships tied for fifth at the Legends Course at the Chateau Elan Golf Resort Sunday afternoon.
Upstate's 308 was good enough to finish the day tied for fifth with Mercer heading into Monday's second round of the 54-hole tournament. North Florida opened with a 1-over-par 289 to take the first round lead. Kennesaw State is second at 298 and is followed by ETSU (301), Jacksonville (301), Upstate (308), Mercer (308), Stetson (309), Florida Gulf Coast (313), Northern Kentucky (314) and Lipscomb (314).
"I feel like today's round could have gone either way," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "There were plenty of missed opportunities and we had very few birdies. Two of those birdies, though, came on the last hole and that was a great way to finish the round. This course commands players to play patiently and hit shots toward the middle of the greens. Anything else and you risk bogeys."
Cornfield (Dudley, England) made 15 pars on his round and his only real slip-up was a double bogey on the par-3 15th. He shot a 76 to open his first A-Sun Tournament and is tied for 16th. Adam Goins (Gaffney, S.C.) matched Cornfield's 76, finishing with a birdie and five bogeys for his score.
Playing in just the fourth tournament of his collegiate career, Lopez Bulla (Bogota, Colombia) opened with a 77 and is tied for 24th. He was 3-over-par after his first nine holes (starting on the back nine) and used a birdie on his final hole to shoot 77.
"I am proud of Ryan and Sebastian for playing the way they did in their first A-Sun Championship round," said Lawton. "Adam was a leader as well. We have counted on him often this year."
Brian Horton (Boiling Springs, S.C.) also birdied his last hole to shoot 79 and give the Spartans four scores in the 70's for a consistent day. Sean Hassell (Walhalla, S.C.) finished with a 91 in his first career start at Upstate.
Four players opened the tournament shooting a 1-under 71 on Sunday. UNF's Sean Dale and Kevin Phelan, ETSU's Scott Gibson and Kennesaw State's Austin Vick all share the lead heading into the second round.
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