OPELIKA, Ala. – Kyle Robinson carded a 1-under-par 71 in the opening round of the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner on Sunday, helping the University of South Alabama men's golf team end the first day of the event just four shots out of second place.
With the sophomore one of five players in the field to shoot under par on the day, the Jaguars concluded the first 18 holes of play with a 297 total. Fellow Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State fired a 5-under-par 283 group total and will enter the second round 10 strokes in front of host Auburn, with Southern Methodist, Georgia State and Mercer tied for third two shots in front of South.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner (Auburn)
Date: 2/24
Course: Grand National Lake Course (par 72, 7,149 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=15979
TEAM SCORES
1) Arkansas State 283 (-5); 2) Auburn 293: T3) Southern Methodist 295; T3) Mercer 295; T3) Georgia State 295; 6) Auburn 'B' 296; 7) South Alabama 297; T8) Missouri 301; T8) UNC-Wilmington 301; 10) Kennesaw State 303; T11) ULM 304; T11) Florida Atlantic 304; 13) Chattanooga 305; 14) Western Kentucky 306; 15) Austin Peay 307; 16) Lipscomb 315.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Joel Wendin, A-State 66 (-6); 2) Josh Edgar, GSU 68; T3) Kyle Robinson, USA 71; T3) Reese McFarlane, UNCW 71; T3) Julien Sale, A-State 71; T6) 10 individuals with 72.
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T3) Kyle Robinson 71 (-1); T6) Dawson Atkinson* 72; T21) Peter Staalbo 74; T32) Rasmus Karlsson 75; T46) Jordan Plunkett 77; T79) Yannick Schütz 83.
*denotes competed as an individual
TEE SHOTS
-The field this week includes 16 teams and 84 individuals.
-It was the second straight round that Robinson — who carded a 2-under-par 34 after the turn — has broken par, and the fourth time this season he has recorded a score of par or better.
-Competing individually, Dawson Atkinson led the Jags with four birdies as part of his even-par 72 over the opening 18 holes; three of those came in a four-hole span beginning at the par-five fifth.
-Rasmus Karlsson matched Robinson with three birdies in the round as he shot par on the front side of the course.
-Both of Peter Staalbo's birdies came on the front nine after he posted threes at Nos. 5 and 9, which were playing respectively at 431 and 430 yards.
-Robinson, Karlsson and Staalbo all were among the top 12 in the individual statistical rankings on par-three holes.
-After going 3 under on par fives Atkinson was among the top five individuals in scoring on those holes.
-The Jags had 56 pars as a team, one off the tournament lead after the first day of play.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the team's performance on the opening day of the event: "Today was just a day of perseverance. The conditions were extremely difficult, from the opening tee the wind was blowing hard and the golf course was wet from all the rain. There was ball in hand, but only in the closely-mown areas; if you missed the green normally you were on wet, dormant Bermuda [grass] having to pitch or chip to built-up greens. It was a difficult golf course with the conditions, and with the wind it was a grind all day. The team hung in there."
On the play of Kyle Robinson: "Shooting under par today was great golf. Kyle had good control of his ball most of the day, he hit a lot of quality golf shots — which was hard to do with the gusts coming in and out — and then he made a couple of putts. He had a clutch birdie on No. 17 where he hit it to about six feet from 195 yards, and finished with a strong up-and-down on No. 18 which really helped the team."
On Monday's second round: "Based on the current forecast I don't think the wind is going to blow as much tomorrow but it will still be around, and with the severity of the green complexes and the pin locations it's still going to be a good test. We need to have all five guys show up and compete for 18 holes, staying in the process and playing another solid round of golf. It's a hard golf course, you have to stay patient; if you do and if you can execute some shots, you have an opportunity to play well. But it is certainly a good test and will be tomorrow as well."
Up next: Play will continue at 7:50 a.m. (CST) Monday when the second round of the event begins.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.
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