No. 15 Gamecocks Sixth After R1 of SEC Championship

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — No. 15 South Carolina shot 1-under (279) in the opening round of stroke play at the 2019 SEC Championship on Wednesday. The Gamecocks sit in sixth headed into the second round, seven shots off the lead.
 
“It was a solid first round and I thought the team was really consistent throughout most of the day,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “The pins were pretty difficult for the most part and making birdies was tricky considering we didn’t have a lot of wind. We’re in good position to make a move tomorrow, and I expect the team to come out ready for the challenge.”
 
Senior Will Miles and junior Caleb Proveaux paced Carolina as they sit T-15^th at 1-under after shooting 69. Miles led the team with five birdies on day one. He was 1-over through 13 and finished with a pair of red numbers coming in on holes 14 and 16. Proveaux was bogey free at 3-under through 16 holes before a four at the par-3 17^th and a five at the par-4 18^th.
 
Senior Ryan Stachler posted an even par 70. He made the turn at 2-over and was bogey free on the back nine with a pair of birdies. The Alpharetta, Ga., native, is T-25^th. Junior Jamie Wilson was the final counting score at 1-over par (T-31^st). He was even at the turn and carded a 36 (+1) coming in. He had a 10 foot putt for eagle at the par-5 15^th hole that he just missed.
 
Senior Scott Stevens is T-41^st after shooting 72 (+2). He hit it well, but couldn’t get any putts to fall. After bogeying the first two holes, Stevens was even the rest of the way with 14 pars, a birdie and bogey. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native had solid looks for a red number at holes 17 and 18. It’s just the second time all year in 27 rounds played his score did not count for the Gamecocks.
 
Scoring conditions weather wise were solid on Wednesday with light winds, but pins were tight and tucked to edges throughout the course.
 
No. 14 Georgia and No. 16 Auburn are tied for the lead at 8-under par. Teams three through 10 are all within seven shots of each other. Ole Miss and Kentucky each shot 5-under and sit T-3^rd. No. 4 Vanderbilt is in fifth at 3-under after an opening round 277. Will Gordon of Vanderbilt and Trent Phillips of Georgia each shot 65 (-5) today for a share of the individual lead.
 
Carolina will be paired with the Commodores and Kentucky in the second round on Thursday. Scott Stevens will lead things off at 8:20 a.m. ET on hole for the Gamecocks. Click here to see the full allotment of round two pairings.
 
STROKE PLAY R1 TEAM LEADERBOARD – 2019 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
T1. Auburn – 272 (-8)
T1. Georgia – 272 (-8)
T3. Ole Miss – 275 (-5)
T3. Kentucky – 275 (-5)
5. Vanderbilt – 277 (-3)
6. South Carolina – 279 (-1)
7. Tennessee – 280 (E)
T8. Arkansas – 281 (+1)
T8. Texas A&M – 281 (+1)
10. LSU – 282 (+2)
11. Missouri – 289 (+9)
12. Mississippi State – 290 (+10)
13. Florida – 291 (+11)
14. Alabama – 292 (+12)
 
STROKE PLAY R1 INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – 2019 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
T15. Will Miles – 69 (-1)
T15. Caleb Proveaux – 69 (-1)
T25. Ryan Stachler – 72 (E)
T31. Jamie Wilson – 71 (+1)
T41. Scott Stevens – 72 (+2)

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