GREENSBORO, Ga. – The Furman (-10) men's golf team, led by freshman Harris Barth (-5), who fired an opening round 67 to tie for third, is tied for second place at the conclusion of Sunday's opening round of the 2023 Southern Conference Championship at par 72, 7,174 yard The Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.
The 59th-ranked Paladins are three strokes behind leader East Tennessee State (-14), who ranks 33rd nationally, and are tied with No. 47 Chattanooga (-11). Furman, which had all four counting scorers shoot 70 or under, led the field with 24 birdies and a 3.96 average on the par 4s. The Paladins posted a team score of 277, tying the sixth-best round in program history.
Barth, a native of Atlanta, Ga., birdied No. 3 and stood at even par before adding birdies on No. 7 and No. 9 to turn at 2-under. He added an additional birdie on No. 10 then went on a tear to end the round, posting three-straight birdies from No. 15 through No. 17. Barth, who totaled a team-high seven birdies in the round, sits just one stroke back of leader Matty Dodd-Berry (-6) of ETSU, who posted an 66 on Sunday.
Seniors Ross Funderburke (-2) and Sam Lape (-2) and sophomore Will Morlan (-2) each carded a 70 on Sunday to tie for seventh. Funderburke notched six birdies, including three straight from No. 6 through No. 8, while Lape added five birdies in the round. Morlan also totaled five birdies, with consecutive birdies on No. 3 and No. 4.
Senior Walker Crosby (+1) eagled the par-5 No. 17 and birdied No. 7 to finish the round with a 1-over 73, tying for 24th.
The second round of the tournament begins at 9 a.m. Monday with twosomes starting on No. 1 and No. 10. The Paladins will begin on hole No. 1 at 9:05 a.m. and will play in a group with Chattanooga in the tournament's second round.
The team winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional, while the individual champion will also earn automatic regional qualification.
Live scoring of the tournament is available at https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=27718. Admission to the tournament is free to the public.
T2 Furman 277 -10
T3 Harris Barth (4) 67 -5
T7 Will Morlan (1) 70 -2
T7 Ross Funderburke (2) 70 -2
T7 Sam Lape (3) 70 -2
T24 Walker Crosby (5) 73 +1
