Kiawah Island, S.C. – Senior George Whitbread carded a 2-over par 74 on Sunday to pace the Western Carolina scoring five after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes at the East Bay Deli Classic at Kiawah hosted by Charleston Southern at the par-72, 6,911-yard Turtle Point Golf Course.
The Catamounts sit 12th in the 21-team field entering Monday's second round. WCU is just two strokes outside a two-way tie for 10th-place.
Paired with golfers from Charleston Southern, Middle Tennessee, and William & Mary in foursomes, the Catamount scoring five will hit the course beginning at 7:30 am on the front nine on Monday. Live scoring is available online at GolfStat.com.
Whitbread countered three bogeys with a birdie on the par-4 11th after opening on the front nine for his 2-over round, finishing with 14 pars – nine coming on the front nine. The Colchester, England, native was followed by sophomore teammate Chandler Metz, a stroke back in a tie for 33rd after a season-best opening round score of 75. One-under through four holes, Metz bounced back from a double-bogey on the par-5 fifth with a birdie on the par-4 sixth, carding a second bogey on his second to last hole to shoot 75.
WCU freshmen Tumi Kúld and Louis Theys are tied for 56th individually with matching scores of 5-over par 77 with sophomore Zach Caudill rounding out the WCU lineup in a tie for 78th with a score of 79 (+7). One-over par at the turn after countering a double-bogey with a birdie, Kúld finished the first day with five pars and four bogeys for his 5-over round. Theys moved to the back nine even par with a birdie and bogey on the front, carding a pair of double-bogeys and a bogey against six pars. Caudill had five bogeys and one double on Sunday.
Playing unattached as an individual, sophomore Michael Coe sits in a tie for 33rd after shooting 3-over par, 75, on Sunday. Coe countered four bogeys with a birdie on Sunday for his 3-over round.
Ranked 44th according to GolfStat, the College of Charleston leads second-place Memphis by two strokes, 285-to-287, after the first round. Rounding out the top five is a three-way tie for third place between Jacksonville State, USC Upstate, and Troy at 289.
Isaiah Jackson of Memphis sits atop the individual leaderboard after shooting 6-under par, 66, on Sunday ahead of a three-way tie for the runner-up spot at 4-under, 68.
12 – Western Carolina – 303 (+15)
T26 – George Whitbread – 74 (+2)
T33 – Chandler Metz – 75 (+3)
T56 – Tumi Kúld – 77 (+5)
T56 – Louis Theys – 77 (+5)
T78 – Zach Caudill – 79 (+7)
T33 – Michael Coe (individual) – 75 (+3)
