Nov. 3, 2008

DAUFUSKIE ISLAND, S.C. – Junior Paul Woodbury carded a hole-in-one on the fifth hole at Haig Point, providing the highlight of the tournament as he and his South Carolina teammates hold a six-shot lead through two rounds at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate. All five Gamecock golfers enter the final round of play in the tournament’s top 10.

Woodbury’s second round began with a bogey at his second hole, the 14th, but it was about to get much better. He rolled off three straight birdies to make the turn at 2-under. He bogeyed the second and carded pars at the third and fourth before his big shot at the fifth.

He would card three bogeys over his final seven holes to finish at even par, but the ace was enough to keep him in a tie for second place and give the Gamecocks the tournament lead through 36 holes. He also shot an even-par 72 in the morning’s first round that included three birdies.

Strangely enough, Woodbury’s ace was one of two on the day. San Diego State’s Andrew Cooley holed out from the tee on the eighth hole in his second round of play. And just to add to the irony – the two are paired together in Tuesday’s final round.

It was a solid day for the rest of the Gamecocks as well. Freshman Wesley Bryan stands tied with Woodbury for second place overall after shooting rounds of 73 and 71. Bryan had his share of struggles with five bogeys in his first round, but managed to find three holes he really liked as he birdied the fifth, sixth and ninth in both rounds en route to an even-par showing through two rounds.

Senior Mark Silvers III showed great resiliency in rebounding from a tough week last time out at Isleworth by carding rounds of 74 and 72 to post a 2-over day. Starting on the 11th hole, he birdied his first two holes before making the turn at even par. He then birdied the first hole and rolled off eight straight pars before a bogey at his final hole, the 10th, to finish at even par. In his second round, Silvers shook off a double bogey at the 16th by carding three birdies over six holes on the front side before a pair of bogeys dropped him to 2-over. He is in seventh place, five shots off the pace heading into the final round.

Juniors George Bryan IV and Patrick Rada are tied for ninth overall, both at 4-over through two rounds. Bryan carded a pair of 74s on the day, garnering 16 pars in his second round after coupling a pair of birdies with four bogeys in his first 18 holes. Rada cruised through 17 holes of his first round before disaster struck with a triple bogey at his final hole, the 11th, to give him a first-round 75. He then carded a pair of birdies in his second round en route to a 73 to give him a 4-over total heading into the final round of play.

As a team, South Carolina carded rounds of 291 (+3) and 290 (+2) to hold a six-shot lead as final-round play begins Tuesday morning. The Gamecocks are followed by Georgia State, who held a one-shot lead after the first round with a 290 (+2), but fell back with a second-round 297 (+9). San Diego State is third at 17-over, and tournament host Michigan State is fourth at 20-over.

Most of Georgia State’s success came courtesy of Tobias Rosendahl, who posted rounds of 71 and 70 to hold a three-shot lead at 3-under through two rounds. Woodbury and Wesley Bryan are tied for second, with Tulsa’s Nicholas Geyger and USC Beaufort’s Reed Howard a shot back at 1-over. Eastern Michigan’s Christopher Ross recorded the low round of the day with a 69 in the second round that saw him make seven birdies in his first 12 holes.

South Carolina will look for its second title in four fall tournaments Tuesday morning as final-round play begins. The teams will again use an 8 a.m. shotgun start with the Gamecocks in the lead group off holes 1-4. Live results are available through golfstat.com.