Oct. 17, 2014
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The No. 8 Auburn men's golf team is tied for fifth at 2-under 286 after the US Collegiate first round at the Golf Club of Georgia Lake Side Course. The Tigers were 6-under on the final three holes, including 4-under on No. 9, their final hole on Friday.
Sophomore Will Long is tied for sixth, five shots off Virginia's Denny McCarthy's lead, with a career-low-tying 4-under 68. Long recorded seven birdies, including back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to finish his round.
"I am happy with the way we hung in there today, and we finished the round strong," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. "That will definitely carry over to tomorrow. Will had a fabulous day as Dan and Matt were solid. MJ (Michael Johnson) battled back after a quadruple bogey."
No. 25 Virginia fired a 16-under 272 and is six shots ahead of No. 9 Texas in a loaded field that features 10 of the 15 teams ranked in the Top 25. Texas A&M is third at 281 followed by No. 6 Stanford (283), No. 8 Auburn (286), No. 24 East Tennessee State (286), No. 5 UCLA (287), No. 13 Wake Forest (288), Oklahoma State (290) and No. 20 Washington (290) to round out the top 10.
Iowa (291) is in 11th ahead of Clemson (294), No. 11 LSU (296), No. 15 Georgia Tech (296) and Kent State (304).
Senior Dan Stringfellow is tied for 17th with a 1-under 71 while sophomore Matt Gilchrest is tied for 31st at 73. Junior Michael Johnson is tied for 46th at 74 with a quadruple bogey on the par-5 18th hole, his ninth. Johnson responded with four birdies on his inward nine. Freshman Matthew Perrine is tied for 55th at 75.
The second of three rounds continues on Saturday. Live scoring for the tournament can be found on www.golfstat.com. For the most up to date information, follow us on Twitter @AUMensGolf or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AUMensGolf.