Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate: East Tennessee State leads after Round One
Algot Kleen (ETSU Athletics Photo)
It has been a great start to the season for the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.
A few days after winning at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, ETSU sits atop the leaderboard after Friday's first round at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate.
ETSU sits at 13-under, three shots clear of Virginia, who sit at 10-under.
Wake Forest is in third place at 7-under, Tennessee and Texas A&M are T4 at 6-under.
Overall, ETSU registered a tournament-best 23 birdies on Friday while also pacing the field in par-4 and par-5 scoring. ETSU played the par-4s at 7-under and the par-5s at 11-under.
In the individual competition,
Algot Kleen of ETSU and
Paul Chang of Virginia are tied for the lead after rounds of 5-under 67.
Conor Gough of Charlotte,
Mats Ege of ETSU,
Kelly Chinn of Duke and
Omar Morales of UCLA are all T3 after rounds of 4-under 68.
ETSU started out on the back nine on Friday, and Kleen totaled four birdies, four pars, and a bogey before making the turn. From there, Kleen picked up three more birdies over his last nine holes to finish with a 5-under 67.
Ege, who earned medalist honors at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, got hot late to skyrocket up the leaderboard. Ege birdied his last three holes and four of his last five to move into a tie for third at 4-under 68.
The reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year was one-over through his first five holes but played the final 13 holes at five-under.
ABOUT THE Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate
The United States Collegiate Championship,
hosted by Georgia Tech, annually brings 15 of
the nation's top college teams to The Golf Club
of Georgia for a three-day, 54-hole
tournament
that has been called "the Masters of college
golf.” Started in 2006, the USCC offers PGA
Tour-type, championship conditions for the
nation's finest college players, including a
personal caddie for all three rounds. Long
pants
are required and galleries are able to walk in
the
fairways behind the players, similar to the
Walker Cup. The USCC crowns a Team
Champion
and Individual Champion and honors them on
the
perpetual mahogany, gold and crystal USCC
Trophy, which sits in The Golf Club of Georgia
lobby.
View Complete Tournament Information