University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Badger Invitational
Lopez Bulla Leads Upstate Charge at Badger Invitational
9/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Madison, Wisc. – Sebastian Lopez Bulla led a strong USC Upstate charge in the first round of the Badger Invitational Sunday afternoon, firing a 2-under-par 70 as the Spartans stand second heading into the second round Monday.
The Badger Invitational is being hosted by Wisconsin and played at the University Ridge Golf Course. Conditions we perfect and after the first day of the 54-hole tournament, it was the Palmetto State that ruled the day. Upstate opened the tournament with a 286 and stands second behind South Carolina, which owns the lead at 282. The field of 14 teams is extremely tight with nine teams within 10 strokes of the lead.
"There are only a few shots separating the entire field," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "I am glad we are one of the teams near the front of the bunch."
Lopez Bulla was simply outstanding throughout the day and closed strongly playing his final nine holes at 33. His career-best round of 70 was the lowest score of the day for Upstate as the Spartans counted scores of 70, 71, 72 and 73.
"I am so proud of Sebastian's effort and composure," said Lawton. "He shot his career round and I know he will continue to sharpen his game, which is exciting."
South Carolina leads the tournament after shooting a 6-under 282. Upstate is six strokes back at 2-under 286. Three teams – Xavier, Illinois State and Missouri-Kansas City - are tied for third at 287. Austin Peay and Kansas are tied for sixth at 290 and are followed on the leaderboard by Marquette (291), Charleston Southern (292), Wofford (293), Wisconsin (295), Rutgers (298), Northern Illinois (302) and Northern Kentucky (310). Twelve of the 14 teams shot scores below 300.
"The effort from all of our players was 100 percent today," said Lawton. "We had a few mistakes, but so many more positive than negative. The course has some holes that allow you to be aggressive and some that require a conservative approach. We managed this well today. It has been a goal to have guys in the 4-5 positions step up and lead us when we needed, and that happened again today."
While Lopez Bulla led the Upstate cause, he was by no means alone in helping put the Spartans second on the leaderboard. Danny Brock is tied for eighth after shooting a 1-under 71 and Adam Goins shot even-par 72 to finish the day tied for 18th, giving the Spartans two players in the Top 10 and three in the Top 20.
"Danny was right there all day," said Lawton. "He had a couple of missed shots early in his round, but stayed in the moment and was able to post a great score."
Taylor White turned in the fourth countable score on the day with a 73. Ryan Cornfield, who led Upstate in the first two tournaments of the year with back-to-back second place finishes en route to leading the Spartans to two tournament titles, shot 77.
South Carolina's Caleb Sturgeon opened the tournament with a 7-under 65 to take the first round lead. Xavier's Matt Gerard turned in a 69 and is in second, while Lopez Bulla and four other players are tied for third after shooting 71. The teams will play the second round on Monday and close out the tournament with the final round on Tuesday.
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