April 2, 2010

Tournament Notes | Live Scoring

COLUMBIA, S.C. – One week before the entire golf world descends on Augusta, Ga., the college game will take center stage as No. 17 South Carolina will join 17 other schools at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, which runs Saturday and Sunday at the par 72, 7,231-yard Forest Hills Country Club.

The Gamecocks will once again send out the same starting five that have competed in all eight events thus far in the 2009-10 season. The five competitors in this week’s event – all native to the Palmetto State – will be senior George Bryan IV (Chapin), senior Patrick Rada (Anderson), senior Paul Woodbury (Lake City), sophomore Wesley Bryan (Chapin) and redshirt freshman Clint Tolleson (Spartanburg).

Rada and Wesley Bryan will look to build on their momentum from a pair of top-10 finishes earlier this week at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate as Rada tied for third and Bryan finished seventh. Rada’s success last week was especially encouraging to the Gamecocks. He struggled in his previous two outings at the Seminole Intercollegiate and the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational, and was forced to qualify for the final spot in the Gamecock lineup against freshman Dean Hester last week. Hester won the first qualifying round, but Rada outlasted the freshman in 20 holes of match play at Spring Valley Country Club to regain his spot in the lineup for the 15th consecutive event. He made the most of it at Bulls Bay with three rounds at par or better, finishing only three shots out of the lead.

South Carolina has played in this event six previous times dating back to 2002 with the last appearance coming in the 2008 season. That year, and also in 2007, the Gamecocks finished fourth in the 18-team field for their best showings as a team in the event. Bryan IV and Rada have each played in this event, with Bryan making two appearances. Bryan earned the first runner-up finish of his career as a freshman in 2007, shooting 66-72-72=210 to tie for second place. He tied for 27th the next year. Rada played in the event in 2008, tying for 37th in the rain-shortened tournament.

The last time here, Mark Anderson tied for sixth place as the Gamecocks finished at 573 (-3) and tied for fourth at the rain-shortened 2008 edition of the Augusta State Invitational. Mark Silvers III also finished in the top 10, with Bryan IV tied for 27th and Rada tied for 37th.

Nine ranked teams highlight this week’s 18-team field, led by tournament host and No. 3-ranked Augusta State. Other ranked teams to compete with the No. 17 Gamecocks include No. 8 Illinois, No. 14 Clemson, No. 18 Alabama, No. 27 Tennessee, No. 30 Chattanooga, No. 33 Duke and No. 47 Kent State. In addition, USC-Aiken is ranked 33rd in the latest Division II Golfstat rankings. This season, the Gamecocks have a record of 12-7 against teams in this event.

The tournament gets underway with 36 holes on Saturday as the Gamecocks will be paired with Augusta State and Alabama for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.com.