Oct. 3, 2009
TAMPA, Fla. - The Auburn men's golf team finished the opening 36 holes of the 2009 Gary Koch Invitational Saturday evening, carding a 280-570 to finish tied for ninth.
Sophomore Kyle Kopsick (63-135) leads all but two golfers in the 81-player field. The Chicago native carded a second round 63, only one stroke shy of the eight-year-old course and tournament record set by Florida's Camilo Villegas.
Kopsick's run was highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par-three, No. 4.
"I hit a six iron at perfect yardage," said Kopsick. "We had no idea it had gone in the cup. It was hidden by the front of the green. We walked up on the green and didn't see my ball. It was awesome."
Sophomores Will McCurdy (69-145) and John Stembridge (76-147) are tied for 46th and 58th, respectively. Redshirt freshmen Jackson Beindorf (72-148) and David Zickler (83-154) finished tied for 60th and 79th.
"Kyle played fantastic this afternoon," said Auburn head men's golf coach Nick Clinard. "We've got to stay patient and start putting better. I thought the guys hung in there but we've got to start wedging it in closer. The course is set up harder tomorrow so we've got to stay focused."
Texas Tech (279-550) leads the field followed by No. 7 Florida State (280-554), No. 8 Florida (283-560), Virginia (279-561), Augusta State (278-564), Georgia Southern (283-564), LSU (293-568), No. 10 North Carolina (288-569), Ole Miss (285-570), Auburn (280-570), No. 11 North Florida (281-571), Kentucky (284-573), UAB (287-574), ETSU (283-577) and South Florida (302-597).
Florida State's Seath Lauer (67-133) holds the individual lead followed by LSU's John Peterson (67-134) in second and Kopsick in third.
The Tigers are set to tee off the back nine at 8:18 a.m. EST with North Florida and Kentucky. Complete results and pairings can be accessed via the men's golf page of www.AuburnTigers.com.