April 4, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. – No. 10 South Carolina is tied for 10th place following round one of the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at the Champions Retreat. The Gamecocks are tied with arch-rival Clemson after both teams posted a 296 (+8) on Friday afternoon. No. 6 UCLA leads the tournament by two strokes behind a round of 284 (-4).

Holding a share of ninth place, senior Mark Anderson was the Gamecocks’ leader and only one to make it into the clubhouse under par on Friday. After solid par golf through the opening nine holes, he turned in three birdies in a four-hole stretch, beginning with the par-5 14th, to finish the day at 71 (-1).

Coming off a top-five finish at Furman, sophomore Patrick Rada looked to keep his momentum this weekend. Back-to-back bogeys opened his round, however, and he spent the rest of the afternoon battling back. A trio of birdies offset a double-bogey on the par-4 fifth, and he turned in a 74 (+2) to hold 35th place.

After carding birdies in two of his first three holes, sophomore George Bryan IV stumbled to a triple-bogey on the par-4 fourth hole. He made the turn at two-over and worked his way back to even with birdies on Nos. 12 and 16, but another triple on 18 set him back to 75 (+3) for a share of 54th place.

Junior Mark Silvers III picked up a pair of birdies among his four bogey over the first nine holes before finding more consistent scores on the back nine. His 76 (+4) has him in 62nd position. Junior Patrick Cunning posted a 77 (+5) on Friday to hold a piece of 69th place heading into Saturday’s second round.

Three players are tied for the individual lead after shooting 69 (-3) on Friday afternoon. UCLA’s Lucas Lee, North Carolina’s Chase MacFarland and Gareth Shaw of East Tennessee State take a one-stroke lead into Saturday’s round.

Due to inclement weather forecasted for the area Saturday, the tournament will utilize a split-tee format for Saturday’s round. South Carolina will tee off from No. 10 with Clemson and Georgia State beginning at 8:30 a.m.