Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate: East Tennessee State leads after Round One

October 13, 2023 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Algot Kleen (ETSU Athletics Photo)

Algot Kleen of ETSU and Paul Chang of Virginia lead the way in the individual competition at 5-under.

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.

Results: Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
T1	Omar Morales	, Mexico	700	68-68-69=205
T1	Algot Kleen	, Sweden	700	67-68-70=205
T3	Mahanth Chirravuri	Chandler, AZ	400	70-66-71=207
T3	Conor Gough	, England	400	68-67-72=207
T5	Ben James	Milford, CT	400	70-73-65=208

View full results for Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

About the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate: East Tennessee State leads after Round One

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 200...