BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In their first event as a team since March 10th of last spring, the Coastal Carolina men's golf team carded team scores of 284 and 286 to finish day one of the Graeme McDowell Invitational in third place with a 54-hole team score of 570, 6-under par.
 
Held at the Greystone Golf & Country Club, the Chanticleers are just four strokes behind leader Georgia Southern (566, -10) and one shot back of host UAB (569, -7) heading into the final 18 holes of play on Wednesday.
 
"It was unfortunate for us to drop all those shots at the end of what was a good day for the most part," stated head coach Jim Garren. "Overall, it was a steady day but we got a lot to clean up. We are looking forward to tomorrow."
 
Pacing the Chanticleers on the first day of play was sophomore Gavin Noble, who ended the day in a tie for third place overall at 140, 4-under par. Noble, who is in a four-way tie for third and just two strokes out of the individual lead, shot a first-round 69, 3-under par, and a second-round 71, 1-under par. He totaled nine birdies, all of which came on nine different holes, to go along with 22 pars on the day.
 
Also sitting in the top-15 after Tuesday's first two rounds of play are Tyler Gray and Zack Taylor, who are both tied at 13th with 36-hole scores of 144, even par.
 
Gray recorded back-to-back rounds of 72, even par, which included eight birdies and 21 pars, while Zack Taylor carded rounds of 71 and 73 for his 36-hole score. The fifth-year senior was consistent all day with 26 pars and six birdies on the day.
 
Junior Connor Newton turned in a 36-hole score of 146, +2, with rounds of 76 and 70, while just one shot back of him was fellow junior Brady Hinkle with rounds of 72 and 75 for a two-round score of 147, +3.
 
Newton bounced back from a first-round 76, +4, that saw him +5 on the first nine holes of play to shoot 2-under over his second round which included five birdies over the first 14 holes to climb up into a tie for 22nd-place overall heading into tomorrow's final round.
 
Like Zack Taylor, Hinkle was consistent as he picked up 24 pars over his 36 holes of play to end the day in a tie at 26th.
 
Rounding out the Coastal lineup on Tuesday was sophomore Seth Taylor with a 157, +13. The second-year Chant struggled from the start, as he posted rounds of 75 and 82 on the first day.
 
Coastal is five shots ahead of both ULM (575, -1) and Middle Tennessee (575, -1) who round out the top-five of the team leaderboard.
 
Playing in pairs with their teammates, Coastal will tee-off at 8:40 a.m. CT tomorrow for the final round of play.
 
Live scoring is available at www.Golfstat.com or can be found on the men's golf schedule page at www.GoCCUsports.com.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's golf, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMGolf (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.