Hokie ClubThe Virginia Tech men's golf team shot an opening round 1-over 289 and is in fourth place at the Furman Intercollegiate on Friday. The three-day event is being played at the par 72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, South Carolina.
Ian Hildebrand led the Hokies on Friday. The senior from Purcellville, Virginia, carded a 2-under 70 and is tied for fourth place individually, four strokes behind leader Phillip Knowles of North Florida. Hildebrand had four birdies in the round of 70, his best round of the spring.
Connor Burgess, a freshman from Lynchburg, Virginia and Slade Pickering, a freshman from North West, South Africa, are tied for 21st with even-par 72s. Mark Lawrence Jr., a junior from Richmond, Virginia is tied for 48th at 75 and Blake Fiest, a junior from Huntersville, North Carolina is tied for 69th at 77. Lawrence eagled the par 5, 524-yard 15th on Friday.
Three Hokies are playing this event as individuals. Joey Jordan, a junior from Richmond making his collegiate debut, is tied for 32nd at 73. Dan Woodbury, a senior from Upton, Massachusetts is tied for 103rd at 80 and Tom Crow, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is tied for 112th at 81. Jordan began on the back nine and was 5-over at the turn, but posted four birdies on his last nine to card the 73.
North Florida holds the team lead at 10-under 278, five strokes ahead of USC Aiken. Yale is third at 288, one stroke ahead of the Hokies. West Virginia is fifth at 290, Gardner-Webb is sixth at 294 and Francis Marion, host Furman and James Madison are tied for seventh at 295. USC Upstate is 10th at 299, Harvard is 11th at 301 and Marshall, Winthrop and Dartmouth are tied for 12th in the 21-team field.
The second round will be played on Saturday morning with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. and the final round will be a shotgun start on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Live scoring is available on Hokiesports.com, via a link from Golfstat.com.