MADISON, Miss. – The Coastal Carolina University men's golf team shot a seven-over 295 to finish the first round of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championship on Monday in eighth place on the team leaderboard at the Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss.
While the Chants are in eighth-place overall, they are only four strokes away from one of the top four spots. After Wednesday's third round, the top four teams will advance to match play on Thursday.
Seth Taylor led the Chants in the opening round with a one-under 71 (34-37). He recorded a team-best four birdies on the day, with two of those birdies coming on a pair of par-5 holes. He is tied for fourth in the field with a 2.75 stroke average on the par-3 holes, tied for seventh with a 4.50 stroke average on the par-5 holes, and is tied for fourth with his four total birdies over the first 18 holes of play. He will go into tomorrow's second round tied for sixth.
Trey Crenshaw shot a one-over 73 (37-36) and is tied for 17th after the opening round. After recording a bogey on his seventh hole of the day, the sophomore recorded 11 consecutive pars in recording his one-over score. Like Taylor, Crenshaw is tied for third on par-3 holes with a 2.75 stroke average and he is tied for the tournament lead in pars with 15.
Garrett Cooper shot a two-over 74, recording a 37 on both the front and back nine to end his round tied for 27th, while both
Connor Newton (39-38) and
Owen Kim (39-38) shot an opening round 77 and are tied for 50th heading into tomorrow's action.
Troy leads the conference championship after round one with a four-under 284. Only 10 strokes separate teams two through 11 with Louisiana (E, 288) leading that pack of teams. Southern Miss is third (+1, 289) followed by Texas State and South Alabama tied for fourth at three-over 291.
Georgia Southern is sixth with a five-over 293, just one stroke in front of James Madison at six-over 294. The Chants (+7, 295) are one back of the Dukes and followed by Georgia State (+9, 297) and Appalachian State (+9, 297), who are tied for ninth, while ULM is one stroke back at 10-over 298.
Rounding out the field is Arkansas State (+16, 304), while Old Dominion and Marshall are tied for 13th at 19-over 307.
Tuesday's second round action is scheduled to tee off at 9:30 a.m. ET. Fans can watch live on ESPN+ and can follow the live scoring at
www.Golfstat.com with links for both 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 goccusports.com.
