By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's golf team wrapped up the first of three rounds at The Grove Intercollegiate Sunday afternoon, finishing in a tie for ninth place at Middle Tennessee's event at The Grove Club in College Grove, Tenn.
For the second straight event, senior Mason Griffin led the Golden Eagle squad, ripping off a first-round 71 over the event's first 18 holes. Griffin finished the first day in a tie for seventh overall in the field of 69 players.
Fresh off an impressive debut as an individual last week, Alexander Riddle tied for 26th over the first round of action. The freshman from Chattanooga carded a 74 during his first 18 holes as a Tech starter.
Senior Lee Whitehead finished next on the list for Tech, turning in a 76 to help set up Tech's team score of 298. The wiley veteran was followed by junior Mitch Thomas, who just missed tying his teammate after scoring a 77 over his first round.
Junior Bryce Kendrick saw his first-round score from Sunday disqualified after an inadvertent scorecard violation.
"We had a solid start today," head coach Polk Brown said, "but we have plenty of golf left to play and I know we are capable of firing better scores. I fully expect us to go out there and give ourselves a chance to climb the leaderboard."
Round two of The Grove Intercollegiate will kick off Monday at 9 a.m. CT with the third round of play scheduled for a 9 a.m. start on Tuesday.
