Braselton, Ga. - The Stetson men's golf team shot a 10 over par 294 in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships on Monday and stands in a tie for eighth place with Mercer at the Chateau Elan Resort outside Atlanta.  Junior Sam Ryder (Longwood, Fla.) carded an even par round of 71 and is in a tie for 12th place individually, five strokes off the lead.

Slotting in right behind Ryder after 18 holes are senior Gabe Costa (Tequesta, Fla.) and freshman Matt Lawrence (Naples, Fla.), who shot 72 and 73 and are tied for 15th and 23rd, respectively.  Junior Andrew Schiano (Orlando, Fla.) delivered Stetson's final counting score with a seven over par 78 while junior Micah Jacobsen (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) scuffled late in the round and opened with an 82.

Ryder is in a three-way tie with FGCU's Daniel Mazziotta and Lipscomb's Brandon Mundie just outside the top 10, five strokes behind USC Upstate's Matthew Hopper, the first round leader after a five under par 66.  The Kennesaw State duo of Jeff Karlsson (-4) and Matt Nagy (-3) is close behind Hopper with four golfers tied for fourth at -2.

Kennesaw State fired a four under par 280 to open up a five-stroke advantage over Campbell, North Florida and USC Upstate heading into tomorrow's second round.  FGCU (+2), Belmont (+7) and defending champion ETSU (+9) also have slim leads over the Hatters and Bears at 10 over par with Jacksonville and Lipscomb bringing up the rear at +14 each.

Stetson golfers will go off in groups of three with golfers from Mercer and ETSU starting at 8:45 a.m.  Live scoring can be tracked at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static/team_players_2203.html

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