April 2, 2011

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Junior Wesley Bryan finished off an even-par 36 holes on Saturday to set the pace for South Carolina in the first two rounds of the Insperity Augusta State Invitational. The Gamecocks are in 11th place after rounds of 293-302=595 (+19) with some of the top teams in the country atop the leaderboard at Forest Hills Golf Club.

Bryan started off on fire, sharing the tournament lead at one point as he climbed to 5-under-par through 15 holes on his first round. However, he closed with three straight bogeys to finish off an opening 70 (-2). His second round got off to a bit of a rough start as he bogeyed three of his first five holes (with a birdie) to move to 2-over for the round, even for the day. A pair of bookend birdies on the back nine, along with a bogey at No. 15, got him back under par for the day, but a bogey on No. 1 – his 16th hole of the round – left him back at level par, tied for 13th place.

Freshman Caulder Moore, playing as an individual, had a strong opening-day performance with consecutive rounds of 73-73=146. Starting on No. 17, Moore bogeyed his second hole of the day, but then ran off a string of three birdies in eight holes to move to 2-under at one point. After three bogeys over his next four holes, he pulled back even with birdie at No. 15, but then closed his first round with a bogey at the 16th. His second round was a bit more eventful, with three birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on the front nine, but a steady, even-par back nine gave him his second round of 73 and a tie for 25th place.

The rest of the Gamecocks showed flashes of brilliance throughout the day but were unable to hold it together for the entire 36 holes. Freshman Blaine Woodruff made seven birdies on the day, but a pair of double-bogeys in his second round led to a 75-74=149 (+5) day.

Dykes Harbin, the Augusta native, hovered around even par most of the day. He had three birdies and three bogeys in his first 15 holes in the first round, but a bogey on his 16th hole gave him a 1-over 73. He had an almost identical start to the second round with three birdies and three bogeys on his first 13 holes, but he would bogey four of his final five holes to finish at 4-over for the round and 5-over for the day.

Dean Hester had three birdies in his first round and finished 76-77=153 (+9), and Clint Tolleson had an otherwise strong second round derailed by a pair of triple-bogeys as he shot 82-77=159 (+15).

Top-ranked Oklahoma State has a 10-shot lead through two rounds at 556 (-20). Tennessee is in second place at 566 (-10), and Clemson is third at 1-under-par 575. The Cowboy’s Kevin Tway shot 64-69=133 (-11) and leads the field by four shots; Tennessee’s Danny Keddie is second at 7-under and OSU’s Sean Einhaus is third at 5-under.

The Gamecocks will begin Sunday’s final round at 9 a.m. from the No. 10 tee, paired with Lamar and Virginia Tech. Live scoring will be available through golfstat.com.

INSPERITY AUGUSTA STATE INVITATIONAL – FIRST/SECOND ROUNDS
April 2, 2011 • Augusta, Ga.
Forest Hills Golf Club • Par 72, 7,029 Yards

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T13. Wesley Bryan – 70-74=144 (E)
*T25. Caulder Moore – 73-73=146 (+2)
T45. Blaine Woodruff – 74-75=149 (+5)
T45. Dykes Harbin – 73-76=149 (+5)
T66. Dean Hester – 76-77=153 (+9)
T84. Clint Tolleson – 82-77=159 (+15)
* – individual

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Oklahoma State – 277-279=556 (-20)
2. Tennessee – 282-284=566 (-10)
3. Clemson – 279-296=575 (-1)
4. Alabama – 283-297=580 (+4)
T5. Augusta State – 291-291=582 (+6)
T5. UCLA – 296-286=582 (+6)
7. Illinois – 289-294=583 (+7)
8. Augusta State (B) – 299-285=584 (+8)
9. Coastal Carolina – 295-292=587 (+11)
10. Virginia Tech – 300-292=592 (+16)
11. South Carolina – 293-302=595 (+19)
12. Lamar – 300-299=599 (+23)
13. Georgia Southern – 310-292=602 (+26)
14. Washington – 293-313=606 (+30)
15. Houston – 310-298=608 (+32)
16. Georgia State – 313-301=614 (+38)
17. USC-Aiken – 304-312=616 (+40)