No. 3 Auburn Men's Golf In Third After SEC Championship First Round

April 20, 2012

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - The third-ranked Auburn men's golf team is in third after the SEC Championship first round shooting a 3-under 277 at the par 70, 6991-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on Friday. The Tigers are five shots behind No. 2 Alabama and four behind Georgia.

Will McCurdy and Michael Johnson are both tied for seventh after firing 2-under 70s while Niclas Carlson is tied for 14th with an even par 70. Blayne Barber and Dominic Bozzelliare both tied for 20th with a pair of 71s.

"We started off well but weren't able to finish the last seven to eight holes," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. "All of the guys continued to fight through their rounds, and hopefully we will finish stronger on Saturday. Will and Michael both played well in leading us today."

McCurdy had a bogey-free round with birdies at Nos. 2 and 8 while Johnson had seven birdies on the day to go along with seven pars, three bogeys and a double bogey at No. 5. The Birmingham, Ala., native had three-straight birdies at Nos. 15-17 before finishing with a bogey at No. 18.

No. 23 Florida is in fourth at 3-over 283, six shots behind Auburn, while Kentucky is in fifth at 284 followed by Tennessee at 285, No. 9 Arkansas at 286, Ole Miss at 287, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State at 289 and No. 17 LSU at 296.

Auburn will tee off in Saturday's second round off the No. 1 tee beginning at 7:50 am Central with Alabama and Georgia.

Live-scoring of the SEC Championships can be followed at www.golfstat.com and www.bamagolf.com.