March 20, 2009

STATESBORO, Ga. – South Carolina’s men’s golf team got solid play throughout its lineup and stands tied for third place after one round at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club. The Gamecocks fired an opening-round 291 (+3) with two individuals – freshmen Wesley Bryan and Sam Braver – under par on the day.

Braver, making his initial start as a collegian, showed no signs of first-day jitters as he fired a 1-under 71 that included a string of three straight birdies at one point. The freshman from Roswell, Ga., started off with a bogey on his opening hole, the par-4 10th, but followed that up with a birdie to get back to even par. He ran off three straight birdies on holes 18, 1 and 2 to get to 2-under before a bogey at No. 4 dropped him to 1-under. He is part of a large group tied for eighth after one round of play.

Also tied for eighth place is Wesley Bryan. Like Braver, the native of Chapin, S.C., ran off a string of three straight birdies. Unlike Braver, however, Bryan needed those three birdies to get into red figures as he was 2-over through 15 holes. But a birdie binge on holes 7, 8 and 9 to close his round gave him a 71, a spot in the top 10 and momentum heading into Saturday’s second round.

Defending tournament champion George Bryan IV started off strong with three birdies in his first five holes, but a tough stretch over the next three holes dropped him to 1-over as he made the turn. A pair of bogeys along with one birdie left him at 2-over with a 74, tied for 36th place.

Junior Patrick Rada, making his fourth start of the season, was one stroke back of Bryan IV at 3-over after an opening-round 75. And senior Mark Silvers III was solid on the day, save for one untimely snowman at the par-5 17th, and finished with a 5-over 77.

No. 15 Tennessee holds the team lead through one round after a 1-under 287 to kick things off in South Georgia. North Florida is three strokes back in second place at 2-over par, and the Gamecocks are tied with host Georgia Southern another stroke back at 3-over.

Individually, four players sit atop the leaderboard after turning in matching rounds of 3-under-par 69. Augusta State’s Taylor Floyd, Auburn’s Glenn Northcutt, Tennessee’s Robin Wingardh and LSU’s Sang Yi are all tied for the lead with another three players one stroke back.

The Gamecocks will hit the links again Saturday morning with Carolina’s tee times beginning at 9:45 a.m. on Hole No. 1. A full leaderboard and live results can be obtained through golfstat.com.

CAROLINA RESULTS/SECOND ROUND TEE TIMES (Hole #1)
T8. Sam Braver – 71 (-1) – 9:45 a.m.
T8. Wesley Bryan – 71 (-1) – 10:12 a.m.
T36. George Bryan IV – 74 (+2) – 10:03 a.m.
T45. Patrick Rada – 75 (+3) – 9:54 a.m.
T66. Mark Silvers III – 77 (+5) – 10:21 a.m.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Tennessee (-1)
2. North Florida (+2)
T3. South Carolina (+3)
T3. Georgia Southern (+3)
5. Florida (+4)
6. Oklahoma (+5)
7. Auburn (+6)
T8. Georgia State (+7)
T8. Mississippi (+7)
T8. NC State (+7)
T11. Vanderbilt (+8)
T11. LSU (+8)
T11. Virginia (+8)
14. Kentucky (+9)
15. Augusta State (+10)
T16. North Carolina (+14)
T16. Iowa (+14)
18. Notre Dame (+23)