Richard Fountain
Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com
Fountain Tied for Lead After First Round of SoCon Men’s Golf Championship, ‘Cats Fifth
4/17/2011 4:13:16 PM | Men's Golf
- SoCon Championship Central
- Round 1 Individual Leaderboard (PDF)
- Round 1 Team Leaderboard (PDF)
- Round 1 Individual Leaderboard by Team (PDF)
- Round 2 Tee Times (PDF)
- Live Stats
FLORENCE, S.C. – Competing in his first Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, Davidson freshman Richard Fountain is tied for the lead individually after firing a four-under-par 68 Sunday at the Country Club of South Carolina. As a team, the Wildcats stand in fifth-place at 293 and will tee off for the second of three rounds from the first hole Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.
Fountain is tied with Georgia Southern's Lewis Gruber for the top spot. Fountain started from hole No. 10 and bogeyed the 12th hole before carding birdies on holes 15, 17 and 18. He then recorded two more birdies on the front-nine to finish the day. Samford's Casey O'Toole, who teed off on hole 10, fired a 33 on the front nine en route to an opening round 69 (-3), which places him one stroke behind the leaders in third.
Sophomore John Skeadas was Davidson's second highest finisher of the round in a tie for 21st after carding a two-over-par 74. Junior Jackson Taylor is one stroke behind him at 75 in a tie for 30th place. Freshman Sam Echikson and senior Bobby Urso both finished the day with 76's in a tie for 41st place.
Chattanooga, Samford and Georgia Southern are locked in a three-way tied for the lead at 287, one-under-par. College of Charleston is three strokes back in fourth place at 290, two-over-par. Just six strokes separate fifth-place Davidson (293, five-over-par) and 10th-place, defending champion Furman (299, 11-over-par). Wofford and UNCG are tied for sixth at 295, while Western Carolina (296) and Elon (297) are in eighth and ninth, respectively. Appalachian State rounds out the field at 302.
The second round will commence at 9 a.m. Monday morning. The third and final round tees off at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Fans unable to attend the tournament, which is open to the public free of charge, can follow the action at http://golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=2204.
This is the fifth-straight year the Country Club of South Carolina has hosted the event. Furman is the defending champion at the par 72, 7,062-yard course.
The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional, which will take place May 19-21, while the individual medalist will also earn an automatic regional qualification.
Chattanooga entered the event as the top-rated SoCon team in 2011, carrying a No. 33 national rating from Golfstat.
The Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship has been played every season since 1933, aside from a four-year hiatus during World War II, and the event boasts past champions such as Arnold Palmer (1948-49) and Brad Faxon (1983).
The Wildcats are five-time SoCon Champions, but have not won since claiming three-straight titles from 1966-1968 and are coming off a 10th-place finish last season. Rusty Boyd is the last individual medalist from Davidson, winning in 1973 in Florence. Alex Knoll came the closest to ending the 'Cats' medalist drought in 2007, finishing as the runner-up.
2011 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship
Country Club of South Carolina
Florence, S.C.
Top 10 Individuals
1t. Richard Fountain, Davidson 68 -4
1t. Lewis Gruber, Georgia Southern 68 -4
3. Casey O'Toole, Samford 69 -3
4t. Coy Breen, College of Charleston 70 -2
4t. Steve Dressel, Elon 70 -2
4t. Stephan Jaeger, Chattanooga 70 -2
4t. Josh Nichols, Appalachian State 70 -2
8t. Alex Ellis, College of Charleston 71 -1
8t. Chris Robb, Chattanooga 71 -1
8t. Brent Whitehead, Wofford 71 -1
8t. Kyle Sonday, UNCG 71 -1
Team Standings
1t. Georgia Southern 287 -1
1t. Samford 287 -1
1t. Chattanooga 287 -1
4. College of Charleston 290 +2
5. Davidson 293 +5
6t. UNCG 295 +7
6t. Wofford 295 +7
8. Western Carolina 296 +8
9. Elon 297 +9
10. Furman 299 +11
11. Appalachian State 302 +14
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