University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Sea Best Seafood Invitational
Play Halted at Sea Best Invitational with Spartans in 3rd After 1st Round
2/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Golfstat Results with 2nd Round Standings
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – The USC Upstate men's golf team opened the Sea Best Seafood Invitational at the PLAYERS Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass with a 302 to stand third heading into the second round of the day and was in fifth when play was halted due to darkness. The second round will resume Tuesday morning at 8:00 with the final round following the completion of the second.
The 302 turned in by Upstate was the lowest it has ever shot in four appearances in the tournament. The effort put the Spartans in third after the first round, trailing only Liberty (291) and North Florida (298), two teams ranked in the Top 100 in the nation. With a couple of holes remaining to be played in the second round, Upstate remained in the Top 5 in the 16-team field, standing fifth just behind three teams – Liberty, Texas A&M and Tennessee – in the Top 50 in the country.
"I'm really proud of the way we played the course from tee to green," said Upstate head coach Todd Lawton. "No doubt whatsoever that we controlled our emotions over so many difficult tee shots and approaches on one of the most difficult courses in the world. We struggled to convert some makeable putts on the greens and that really is the difference between being okay and really good. We have tons of respect for this field and know that tomorrow is an opportunity to continue gaining confidence in what we've been working on."
Taylor White and Sebastian Lopez Bulla led the way for Upstate in the first round. White opened with a 72 making five birdies to finish the round as the top Spartan and tied for fifth. Lopez Bulla shot a 73 with three birdies on the day and was tied for 11th after the first round. Ryan Cornfield added a 77 to give the Spartans three scores in the 70's. Adam Goins and Danny Brock each opened with 80.
"Taylor has such a good eye for shot-making and his iron play is just so good," said Lawton. "He broke through and made enough putts to keep him around par and is really leading us in so many ways. Sebastian had a great first round and has been very focused and aggressive, which is where he needs to be."
Upstate maintained its solid play throughout the second round until play was halted for darkness. Goins had rallied and stands 1-over with two holes to play in his round, while White is 2-over with two to play as well.
Following the completion of the first round, Liberty led with a 291 score. North Florida was second at 298 and was followed by Upstate (302), ETSU (303), Tennessee (304), Florida (304), Winthrop (304), Texas A&M (306), Jacksonville (308), East Carolina (309), Florida Gulf Coast (311), Old Dominion (319), Pepperdine (320), Florida Atlantic (320), Jacksonville (321) and Cal Poly (322). Nine of the 16 teams in the tournament field are ranked in the Top 100 in the nation in the latest Golfstat ranking. Upstate is ranked No. 105.
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