Vols Sixth, Wingardh Fourth After Day 1 at SEC Championship

Friday, April 16

St. Simons Island, Ga.

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University of Tennessee

SEC Men's Golf Championship

Vols Sixth, Wingardh Fourth After Day 1 at SEC Championship

April 16, 2010 | Men's Golf

April 16, 2010

Tennessee landed in sixth place but only five strokes out of the lead after Friday's opening day at the SEC Men's Golf Championship on St. Simons Island, Ga.

UT shot 3-over-par 283 and is tied with Georgia and LSU amid a tight field. Arkansas leads at 278, but Mississippi (288) is 10th just 10 strokes behind with two rounds remaining at Sea Island Golf Club. Auburn (280), Florida (280), South Carolina (282) and Mississippi State (282) round out the top five.

Nine of this weekend's 12 teams are ranked in the top 40 nationally, including the Vols at No. 25 according to Golfstat.

Tennessee's five-stroke deficit for the first round is the closest the Vols have been through 18 holes this spring. UT trailed by six at its most recent event, the Administaff Augusta State Invitational, en route to a fifth-place finish. But the Vols were 23, 16, 10 and 14 strokes behind after one round at their other four events since the winter break.

Robin Wingardh is tied for fourth individually after carding a 1-under-par 69. Garrick Porteous shot 70, David Holmes 71 and Darren Renwick 73 to cap the UT scoring, with Jay Vandeventer adding a tough-luck 75.

Wingardh was steady throughout, birdieing the par-5 15th and then the par-4 fifth to reach 2 under par. His only blemish was bogey at the par-4 eighth hole. Still, the junior carded his sixth consecutive round of par or better and team-leading 16th such round out of 28 played for the season.

Porteous also fashioned a balanced round, finishing at even par thanks to two birdies and two bogeys on each nine. The sophomore birdied the par-3 12th, and then bogeyed the par-4 14th. On his second nine, Porteous bogeyed the par-3 third before answering with a birdie at the par-5 seventh hole. He is tied for 14th.

Holmes just missed even par after bogeying twice on the second nine. The senior captain alternated bogeys with birdies on holes 12-15 before making the turn with a birdie at the par-4 18th. But miscues at the par-4 second and par-5 seventh holes pushed Holmes to a tie for 26th.

Renwick fought through a pair of double bogeys to rally for a tie for 36th. The first double came at the par-4 14th. Bogeys at the 11th and 17th holes, plus the second double at No. 1, pushed the sophomore to 5-over-par through 10 holes. The sophomore was still there through 13 holes when he birdied consecutive holes (Nos. 5-6) to improve UT's team score.

Vandeventer certainly would have scored for the Vols if not for his nightmare hole -- 9 at the par-4 16th. Other than that, the freshman kept his focus with three birdies against three bogeys for a 48th-place tie.

Georgia's Bryden Macpherson and Arkansas' Dalton Owens tied for first-day honors with matching 67s, with Vanderbilt's Trey DelGreco third after a 68. Wingardh is part of a group of 10 golfers at 69.

Tennessee begins again on the 10th hole for Saturday's second round. The forecast along Georgia's Atlantic coast calls for sunny skies, a high of 80 and winds from the southwest at 11 mph.

Live scoring is available at UTsports.com via golfstat.com.

TEAM SCORES
1.	Arkansas	278 (-2)
t-2.	Auburn	280 (E)
t-2.	Florida	280 (E)
t-4.	South Carolina	282 (+2)
t-4.	Mississippi State	282 (+2)
t-6.	TENNESSEE	283 (+3)

t-6.	Georgia	283 (+3)
t-6.	LSU	283 (+3)
9.	Vanderbilt	284 (+4)
10.	Mississippi	288 (+8)
11.	Kentucky	296 (+16)
12.	Alabama	297 (+17)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
t-1.	Bryden Macpherson, Georgia	67 (-3)
t-1.	Dalton Owens, Arkansas	67 (-3)
3.	Trey DelGreco, Vanderbilt	68 (-2)
t-4.	Robin Wingardh, TENNESSEE	69 (-1)

t-4.	Nine others tied	69 (-1)
UT SCORES
t-4.	Robin Wingardh	69 (-1)
t-14.	Garrick Porteous	70 (E)
t-26.	David Holmes	71 (+1)
t-36.	Darren Renwick	73 (+3)
t-48.	Jay Vandeventer	75 (+5)