April 4, 2008

EVANS, GA. - The North Carolina men's golfers finished the first round of the Administaff ASU Invitational in 2nd place with a two-under-par 286. North Carolina junior Chase MacFarland carded an impressive three-under-par 69 this afternoon. MacFarland, of Savannah, Ga., will enter the second round tied for the top spot with UCLA's Lucas Lee and East Tennessee State's Gareth Shaw.

Senior Barden Berry, of Kinston, N.C., and Freshman Kevin O'Connell, of Cary, N.C., are currently tied for 17th with an evan-par 72. Henry Zaytoun, III, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., fired a one-over-par 73 to tie for 25th place. Junior Robert Riesen, of Pinehurst, N.C., fell into 79th place with a seven-over-par 79.

UCLA fired a four-under-par 284 to take an early lead amongst the 18 teams participating in the invitational. One stroke behind the second-placed Tar Heels is Lamar with a one-under-par 287. Georgia Tech is in fourth with an evan-par 288 and NC State rounded out the top five with a one-over-par 289.

Five individual players tied for fourth with a two-under-par 70 - NC State's Darren Blair, UCLA's Kevin Chappell, Lamar's Russell Helson and Hugues Joannes, and Georgia's Adam Mitchell. Eight players fired a one-under-par 71 and tied for 9th place.

The invitational continues through Sunday at the Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga., a par 72, 7,403-yard layout. Live scoring is available throughout the tournament on Golfstat.com.