March 12, 2010
Pinehurst, N.C. - The Nittany Lions edged out Eastern Kentucky and the rain in the opening round of the Pinehurst Intercollegiate by Gatorade. Penn State took control of the field early on, carding an even par, 288. Eastern Kentucky sits in second behind Penn State at 1-over par, 289.
"For coming out of the hard winter this was an exceptional opening round for us," said head coach Greg Nye.
Senior Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) led Penn State with a dynamite opening round carding a 4-under par, 68. Foley, who is currently ranked No. 44 according to Golfweek, tops the leaderboard with a single-stroke advantage over Virginia Tech's Mikey Moyers.
"Foley had an exceptional and steady opening round for us," said Nye. "He didn't have a bogey on his card and his closing eagle on 17 pushed him to the top of the board."
The 2009 Pinehurst individual champion, T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) concluded today's play at even par tying for ninth. Tommy McDonagh (Wilton, Conn.) carded a 1-over par, 73, tying for 15. Freshman Ernesto Marin (Miami, Fla.) adjusted to the No. 8 course extremely well with his 3-over par 75. Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa.) tied for 52 with a 5-over par 77. Markovitz will tee-off first for Penn State tomorrow, March 13, at 10:39 a.m. All of the Nittany Lions will be teeing off the first tee and will be playing with a member from both Eastern Kentucky and Virginia Tech.
Sophomore Nick Archambault (Q.C., Canada) also made the trip for Penn State competing as an individual. Archambault carded a 10-over par, 82, which will not count toward the team's total.
The second round of the tournament will continue tomorrow, March 13 at 9 a.m. For live scoring of the tournament visit Golfstat and for updates on Penn State's standings visit GoPSUSports.com