University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Wendy''s Kiawah Classic
Cornfield, Purcell Lead Spartans at Wendy's Kiawah Classic
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Kiawah Island, S.C. – Ryan Cornfield shot an even-par 72 and Andrew Purcell battled his way to a solid 74 to lead the USC Upstate men's golf team in the first round of three rounds of the Wendy's Kiawah Classic Sunday afternoon on the Turtle Point Course at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
Cornfield was solid throughout the day. He went out in even-par 36 and took it to 2-under after 13 holes. He played his final five holes 2-over with a birdie, par and three bogeys to shoot even. He finished his round with five birdies. Purcell is playing in just his second career tournament and entered the event after averaging 83 in three rounds at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate in October. After starting his round with a double bogey and bogey, he played his final 16 holes 1-under with five birdies to shoot 74, his career-best round.
Upstate opened with a 301 and is tied for seventh on the team leaderboard. The Spartans counted scores of 72 from Cornfield, 74 from Purcell, 77 from Sebastian Lopez Bulla and 78 from Taylor White. Tom Schofield shot a 91. Upstate made 17 birdies in the first round.
"It was a strange day for us today," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "There was nothing good on our first or last holes, but we made a lot of birdies and made a great run in between. What can you say about Andrew battling to shoot under par over his final 16 holes and Ryan being there all day? We need great play from everyone more consistently and now have every one of our players showing they can post scores around par this fall. We have two more rounds to end the fall with something special and I like the opportunity Turtle Point offers."
Winthrop opened the tournament with a 288 and is tied for the team lead heading into Monday's second round. The Eagles are followed on the leaderboard by Missouri (289), GRU Augusta (290), Jacksonville State (295), Richmond (295), Presbyterian (298), Upstate (301), Georgia Southern (301), Marquette (301), Gardner-Webb (302), Charleston Southern (303), Radford (304), Coastal Carolina (304), High Point (305), Creighton (306), George Washington (307), Temple (307), Appalachian State (315), Western Kentucky (318) and Bethune-Cookman (319).
Cornfield took his score to 2-under after seven holes and was 2-under after 14 before settling for a 72 to lead Upstate. He is tied for 11th. Purcell is tied for 25th to give the Spartans two players in the Top 25. GRU Augusta's Jake Marriott opened the tournament with a 66 and owns the individual lead.
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