Oct. 10, 2009
MACON, Ga. - Penn State senior standout, Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) is in a six-way tie for first place at the third annual Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championships, hosted by Mercer University. Foley fired an opening round, 69, to finish at three-under par. Foley closed out the front nine with back-to-back birdies on the par three, No. 8 and the par four, No. 9.
Foley topped a fierce field including No. 5 Sean Dale of North Florida, who is tied for ninth at one-under par, No. 10 Jonathan Randolph of Mississippi, No. 13 Matt Thompson of Michigan, No. 18 Harris English of Georgia and No. 37 Seath Lauer of Florida State.
The Penn State men's golf team teed off against a packed field in which they caped off its premier 18 holes tied for eighth with Virginia Tech and No. 6 nationally ranked Florida State. Florida State is the highest ranked team in the 2009 Brickyard field. The Nittany Lions carded a 296, eight-over par, to sit just five shots back from the top three slots. Tournament leader Augusta State (30) left themselves a nine-stroke cushion between them and second place teams, with a six-under par (282) first round.
Senior Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa.) carded a three-over par, 75. Markovitz sank a birdie on the ninth hole, to finish the front nine at one-under par. Senior T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) and freshman Ernesto Marin (Miami, Florida) both tied for 50 at four-over par. Junior Tommy McDonagh (Wilton, Conn.) finished at 13-over par, 85 on the day.
Round two of the prestigious tournament will begin tomorrow, with 8:30 a.m. tee times. For live scoring visit Golfstat.com and for Penn State golf updates visit GoPSUSports.com.