University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Carpet Capital Collegiate
Merzbacher Leads Vols at Carpet Capital
September 06, 2014 | Men's Golf
First Round Stats
DALTON, Ga. -- The Tennessee men's golf team teed off its 2014-15 season Friday morning. The Vols sit in 11th place after the first round of play at the Carpet Capital.
The Farm golf course provided a day full of ups and downs for the young men from Big Orange Country. The Vols shot a first round score of 296 (+8) including an eagle, thirteen birdies, twenty-one bogies and four holes of double bogey or higher.
Friday's first round saw the debut of one of head coach Jim Kelson's freshmen, Lorenzo Scalise.
The day was particularly unkind to freshman Scalise. The Italian native had three bogies and a birdie on the front-nine, making the turn with a 38 (+2). However, he ran into some trouble on the back-nine, recording a quadruple bogey on the tenth and bogies on the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth. Scalise finished the first round with a 81 (+9).
With the Vols' No. 2 starter struggling, junior Chad Merzbacher stepped up his game. The Ohio native sank four birdies during his first round to finish the day with a score of 69 (-3).
Merzbacher was the definition of a solid golfer on Friday. The Dublin, Ohio native nailed three consecutive birdies on holes eleven, twelve and thirteen. Those birdies would propel him through the back nine where he bogeyed No. 10 and finished at 2-under par.
Vols' No. 1 starter, sophomore Juan Carlos Serrano Guevara, came out of the gate hot. Serrano fired 5-under par through the first twelve holes, highlighted by an ace on the 153 yard eleventh hole. However, he fell on hard times at the end of his round, finishing 6-over par on the last five holes.
Senior Thomas Dunne competed at The Farm as an individual and had roller coaster round. The Ohio native recorded four birdies, but finished his first round with score of 80 (+8).
Behind 15 strokes, Tennessee will have some work to do to climb back into contention on Saturday. However, the Vol golf team is not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
On Saturday, Tennessee will start their second round at 8:35 a.m. ET when Scalise steps up to the 10th hole tee box. Tennessee will be paired with Auburn and Middle Tennessee State. Dunne will go off the 10th hole at 7:30 a.m. ET.
For a full leaderboard rundown, Click Here.
Volunteer fans can continue to keep up with the team by following @Vol_Golf on Twitter.
| TEAM SCORES (Through One Round) | ||
| 1. | Kennesaw State | 281 (-7) |
| 2. | LSU | 282 (-6) |
| T-3. | Alabama | 286 (-2) |
| T-3. | UNC | 286 (-2) |
| T-3. | Wake Forest | 286 (-2) |
| 6. | Clemson | 287 (-1) |
| T-7. | USC | 291 (+3) |
| T-7. | Chattanooga | 291 (+3) |
| 9. | Georgia Tech | 293 (+5) |
| 10. | Auburn | 294 (+6) |
| 11. | Tennessee | 296 (+8) |
| T-12. | MTSU | 300 (+12) |
| T-12. | North Florida | 300 (+12) |
| 13. | Florida | 312 (+24) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Through One Round) | ||
| T-1. | Andrew Weathers, UTC | 67 (-5) |
| T-1. | Benjamin Taylor, LSU | 67 (-5) |
| T-3. | Davis Womble, WFU | 68 (-4) |
| T-3. | Jimmy Beck, KSU | 68 (-4) |
| UT SCORES (Through One Round) | ||
| T-5. | Chad Merzbacher | 69 (-3) |
| T-24. | Juan Carlos Serrano Guevara | 73 (+1) |
| T-43. | Michael Nagy | 75 (+3) |
| T-69. | Jack Smith | 79 (+7) |
| T-71. | Thomas Dunne | 80 (+8) |
| T-74. | Lorenzo Scalise | 81 (+9) |
