March 26, 2010
ATLANTA – James White fired a 1-over-par 73 Friday, and Georgia Tech shot a 12-over-par 300 and stand in fourth place after the first round of the Linger Longer Invitational in Greensboro, Ga.
Only three players broke par Friday on the 7,051-yard, par 72 Landing Golf Course at Reynolds Plantation. White’s 73 put him in a tie for sixth place after 18 holes, while Chesson Hadley shot a 75 and teammates John-Tyler Griffin and Kyle Scott each contributed a 76 for the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets. Hadley is tied for 18th individually.
Tech is seven shots behind Furman and No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State, who each posted 5-over-par scores of 293. No. 24 Alabama is third at 294. Trailing Tech are No. 11 Florida State (301), Kennesaw State (303), Charlotte (304) and No. 20 Georgia (304). No. 8 Texas A&M and Coastal Carolina (each at 305) round out the top 10 teams in the 16-team field.
“We just didn’t finish as good as we should have,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “We played along pretty well, then we ran into some trouble on the back. James had a good round, and Chesson hit the ball well but had some trouble on the greens. We’ll get back at it tomorrow.”
While only three players broke par, one of those was Alabama’s Bud Cauley, who tore through the Landing layout in 64 strokes and forged a six-shot lead over Oklahoma State’s Sean Einhaus (70). Furman’s Austin Reeves shot a 71, while Jeff Karlsson of Kennesaw State and Trent Whitekiller of Oklahoma State carded even-par 72s.
The Jackets played the front nine in a relatively quiet 3-over-par, but took hits at the par-3 11th hole (3 bogeys) and the par-4 15th (3 bogeys). Griffin, the nation’s 10th-ranked player and Tech’s scoring leader, played the back nine in 5-over par, including a double-bogey at the par-5 14th. White, ranked 43rd in the natjon, was 2-over at the turn, but came home with three birdies and two bogeys on the back nine.
Play begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Linger Longer Invitational
Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga.
First-Round Results
Team Standings
T1 Furman University 293 +5
T1 Oklahoma State 293 +5
3 Alabama 294 +6
4 Georgia Tech 300 +12
5 Florida State 301 +13
6 Kennesaw St. Univ. 303 +15
T7 Georgia 304 +16
T7 Charlotte 304 +16
T9 Texas A&M 305 +17
T9 Coastal Carolina 305 +17
11 Louisville, U. of 307 +19
12 South Carolina-Aiken 311 +23
13 San Jose State Univ. 313 +25
14 Mercer University 314 +26
15 Oklahoma, U. of 315 +27
16 South Alabama, U. of 317 +29
Individual Leaders
1 Bud Cauley Alabama 64 -8
2 Sean Einhaus Oklahoma State 70 -2
3 Austin Reeves Furman University 71 -1
T4 Trent Whitekiller Oklahoma State 72 E
T4 Jeff Karlsson Kennesaw St. Univ. 72 E
T6 Kevin Tway Oklahoma State 73 +1
T6 Conrad Shindler Texas A&M 73 +1
T6 Wesley Graham Florida State 73 +1
T6 James White Georgia Tech 73 +1
T6 Garland Ferrell Furman University 73 +1
——————————————
T18 Chesson Hadley Georgia Tech 75 +3
T24 John-Tyler Griffin Georgia Tech 76 +4
T24 Kyle Scott Georgia Tech 76 +4
T37 Paul Haley Georgia Tech 77 +5
