Vols atop leaderboard at Carpet Capital Invitational

Friday, September 7

Rocky Face, GA

All Day

University of Tennessee

Carpet Capital Collegiate

September 07, 2018 | Men's Golf

Jake Meenhorst and Brayden Garrison tied for second on the individual leaderboard

By: Andy Kovar

ROCKY FACE, Ga. -- Through 18 holes of play at the Carpet Capital Invitational, the University of Tennessee men's golf team finds themselves in a familiar position to last year.

The Vols, led by sophomore Jake Meenhorst and junior Brayden Garrison, sit atop of the leaderboard. Tennessee carded a opening round of 281 one stroke up on Georgia Tech. They are the only two teams to be below par after the first round of play.

Meenhorst help pace the Vols in the opening nine as he was five-under-par and in sole possession of the individual lead at the turn. He came back to field a bit on the final nine holes to card an opening round 69 (-3).

Garrison helped Tennessee bring home the opening round 6-under-team score. The junior was the first Vol out on the course and posted a round of 69 (-3) to tie Meenhorst for second. They are just one shot off of Davis Riley from Alabama.

Garrison entered the final nine holes at 1-over-par, but buried four birdies to leap up into second place.

Tennessee is scheduled to tee off of No. 1 tomorrow morning with the first tee set for 9:30 a.m. (ET). The Vols are paired with Georgia Tech and Alabama who join them atop the leaderboard.

Coach's Take
On players having familiarity with the course:
"Familiarity always helps and it definitely is nice to go back to a course that most of the guys have played before. Tyler Johnson's first time, Hunter has played here once a couple years ago and the other guys are all back for their third time. Obviously this field doesn't change much year-to-year so, most here feel the same familiarity." - Coach Brennan Webb

On Garrison's final nine holes:
"One of the keys of the day. He is super talented and expects a lot from himself. He has struggled getting over a bad hole or a bad stretch already in qualifying and to see him fight thru that stretch and keep his round together is very encouraging." - Coach Brennan Webb

Player's Take
Meenhorst on posting a low number in the first round of the season:
"It was a great feeling to post a low number for the start of the season. The round had a bit of everything in it, but I was pleased to finish in the 60s and help the team." - Jake Meenhorst

Garrison on what helped his final nine holes:
"I stayed really patient because I was striking it well on the opening nine but had a couple unlucky breaks towards the end but i just stuck to my game plan and executed it really well. Our team had a great day and I cant wait to compete with these guys the rest of the week." - Brayden Garrison

Scores Thru Round One:

Team

1	Tennessee	-8 (280)
2	Georgia Tech	-7 (281)
T3	Kennesaw State	E (288)
T3	Alabama	E (288)
5	Clemson	+2 (290)
6	Auburn	+5 (293)
T7	South Carolina	+6 (294)
T7	Virginia	+6 (294)
9	Chattanooga	+7 (295)
10	LSU	+8 (296)
T11	Florida	+13 (301)
T11	California	+13 (301)
T11	North Florida	+13 (301)
T11	Colorado State	+13 (301)
15	Dalton State	+15 (303)