University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Rutgers Invitational
Upstate Stands Second at Rutgers Invitational
9/13/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Piscataway, N.J. – Paced by two rounds in the 60's in the second round, the USC Upstate men's golf team stands tied for second after the first day and 36 holes of the Rutgers Invitational Friday at the Rutgers University Golf Course.
After shooting 289 in the first round Friday morning, Upstate got rounds of 68 from Adam Goins (Gaffney, S.C.) and 69 from Taylor White (Duncan, S.C.) to shoot 284 and move up two spots on the leaderboard. The Spartans, who have won the last two team championships at the Rutgers Invitational, trail tournament leader Rutgers by two strokes heading into Saturday's final round.
Rutgers shot rounds of 287 and 284 to vault to the lead with a 571 total. Upstate and Bethune-Cookman are tied for second at 573 and are followed in a tight field by Hofstra (574), Adelphi (578), Lehigh (580), La Salle (584), Fairleigh Dickinson (592), Savannah State (593), Monmouth (597), St. Peter's (598), Rider (599), Rutgers-B (603), Wagner (610), Manhattan (611), Fairfield (619) and St. Francis (619).
Upstate opened the tournament with a 289 in the first round, trailing tournament leader Bethune-Cookman and Adelphi by three strokes as the teams continued play into the second round. The Spartans stood tied for fifth with Hofstra behind Bethune-Cookman and Adelphi (286), Rutgers (287) and Lehigh (288).
Ryan Cornfield (Dudley, England) led Upstate with a 70 in the first round. Three Spartans – Goins, Danny Brock (Simpsonville, S.C.) and White - turned in rounds of 73. Sebastian Lopez Bulla (Bogota, Colombia) opened with at 74.
Goins and White were simply outstanding in the second round for Upstate. White, a freshman playing in the second tournament of his collegiate career, shot his career low round with the 69 to help Goins lead the Spartans in the round. Upstate shot the 284, joining the scores of 73 from Cornfield and 74 from Brock with the efforts of Goins and White. Lopez Bullas carded a 76.
Goins, who is the two-time defending champion in the tournament, will begin Saturday's final round tied for third with a 141 total. He trails leader Jacob Stockl (Rutgers) by three strokes. White is tied for second with a 142 total, while Cornfield is tied for 12th at 143. Brock is tied for 28th with a 147 total, while Lopez Bulla is tied for 42nd at 150.
"We overcame what I thought was poor execution on a couple of the easier par-5s and posted a good score," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "I am very proud that Taylor has been so strong early this fall and Danny continues to compete well each round. Adam's afternoon round was steady and he and Coach (Josh) Gallman did some good work reading putts."
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