April 21, 2006

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 24 South Carolina men’s golf team shot a 12-over par 292 Friday in the opening round of the 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship, played at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course (Par 70 — 6,991 yards). The Gamecocks are tied for ninth in the team standings, along with defending champion Kentucky.

“Our guys played solid through 15 holes,” head coach Puggy Blackmon said. “Allen Koon and Eirik Johansen lost seven shots coming in. The team is still upbeat and a good round tomorrow could vault us back into the top five. The field is fairly bunched and we’re only six shots out of fourth. The course is the toughest and most demanding we play all year and mistakes can result in big numbers. Our freshmen are learning what it takes to compete with the best. Florian Fritsch continues to mature and is evolving as one of the best in the SEC.”

No. 1 Georgia owns the lead following the first round. The Bulldogs shot a team score of 276 (-4) and hold a four-stroke advantage on second-place Alabama (280, E). Georgia’s Brian Harman holds the top spot on the individual leader board after carding a three-under par 67 Friday.

Freshman Florian Fritsch (Wiesloch, Germany) recorded the low round for Carolina. Fritsch shot a one-over par 71, including a pair of birdies on No. 7 and No. 15, and is tied for 13th. Senior Eirik Johansen (Stavanger, Norway) is one stroke behind Fritsch and is tied for 19th. Johansen rolled through the front nine, carding eight pars and one birdie, and finished the day with a 72.

Sophomore Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C.) fired a three-over par 73 and sits in a tie for 31st. Freshman Allen Koon (Bamberg, S.C.) was even through nine holes, but counted a 76, putting him tied for 48th. Redshirt freshman Patrick Cunning (Aiken, S.C.) rounded out the USC lineup with an opening-round 77 (+7) and sits tied for 51st.

The 54-hole, three-day event continues with second-round play on Saturday. Live scoring is available online at golfstat.com.

Team ResultsPlace   Team          Round 1 Relation to Par1       Georgia         276        -42       Alabama         280         E3       Florida         285        +54       Tennessee       286        +65       LSU             288        +86       Auburn          289        +9T7      Ole Miss        290        +10T7      Vanderbilt      290        +10T9      Kentucky        292        +12T9      South Carolina  292        +1211      Arkansas        295        +1512      Miss. State     305        +25
South Carolina IndividualsT13  Florian Fritsch     71 (+1)T19  Eirik Johansen   72 (+2)T31  Mark Anderson 73 (+3)T48  Allen Koon       76 (+6)T51  Patrick Cunning 77 (+7)