The Penn State men's golf team finished the first day of the two-day Xavier Provident Invitational tied for seventh place after a grueling and chilly opening two rounds on the Grizzly Course at the Golf Center in Kings Island, Ohio.
Senior Jim Fuller led the Nittany Lions in the first round with a 1-over-par 72 that included five birdies. Fuller, a turfgrass science major from Muskogee, Okla., bogied four of the first eight holes and birdied the par-five No. 3 to go three-over before birdies on No. 9 and No. 10 brought him back to one-over-par.
Fuller followed with another 72 in the second round that included three birdies to finish the round two-over-par tied for 13th place, twelve shots off the individual lead which was held by host Xavier University's Miles Maillet, who was nine-under-par as night fell.
In the second round, Penn State sophomore Greg Pieczynski was even, compensating for five bogies with five birdies.
Overall, the Nittany Lions combined for a first round 296 (+12) and second round 291 (+7) for a first day total 587 (+19). Penn State tied with Akron for seventh. The Zips posted scores of 299 and 288. Wright State University held the team lead with a combined 570 for two-over-par and a two stroke lead. Defending champion Western Kentucky was in fifth.
TOURNAMENT LEADERBOARD - TEAM COMPETITION R1 R2 TOTAL 1 Wright State +2 290 280 570 2 Xavier +4 288 284 572 3 Eastern Michigan +7 287 288 575 4 Indiana +12 293 287 580 5 Western Kentucky +14 285 297 582 6 Iowa +18 296 290 586 T7 Akron +19 299 288 587 T7 PENN STATE +19 296 291 587 9 Eastern Kentucky +21 302 287 589 10 Bowling Green +24 297 295 592 PENN STATE LEADERBOARD - INDIVIDUAL GOLFERS Rank Name R1 R2 TOTAL T13 Jim Fuller +1 +1 +2 T23 Greg Pieczynski +4 E +4 T30 Mark Leon +3 +2 +5 T50 Ted Neville +4 +4 +8 T87 Jason Totin +9 +7 +16
Tuesday¡¯s final round will start at 8 a.m. with the groupings being formed based on the scores from Monday¡¯s play. The leaders will be in the final group that will tee off from the first hole at 10:06 a.m.
Full scorecards for Penn State golfers are available from the GolfStat website at the following website.
