GREENSBORO, Ga. – Senior Walker Crosby (-2) and sophomore Harris Barth (-2) each fired an opening round 70 to tie for fifth to land the Furman (-2) men's golf team in third place following Sunday's opening round of the 2024 Southern Conference Championship at par 72, 7,174 yard The Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.
The Paladins have three players among the top 12 after 18 holes of play. Crosby, a native of Memphis, Tenn., recorded a team-high four birdies, including consecutive birdies on No. 2 and No. 3, while Barth, who hails from Atlanta, Ga., eagled the par-5 No. 17 and added three birdies to pace the Paladins. The Furman duo is five strokes back of leader Matty Dodd-Berry (-7) of ETSU, who carded a 65 in the opening round.
Senior Ross Funderburke (E) shot even par with birdies on No. 1, No. 7, and No. 17 to tie for 12th, while junior Will Morlan (+2) is tied for 20th after recording a 74 with three birdies in Sunday's round. Junior Trey Diehl (+3) posted a 75 with a birdie on No. 7 to tie for 22nd.
East Tennessee State (-13), which ranks 20th nationally, leads the tournament by nine strokes over No. 43 Chattanooga (-4). Furman is just two strokes behind the Mocs in third, while No. 40 UNC Greensboro (-2) sits in fourth. The Paladins ranked second Sunday with a 3.15 scoring average on the par 3s and a 4.45 scoring average on the par 5s. Furman was second with 58 pars and third with 14 birdies. All five Paladins birdied No. 7 in round one.
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 UNC Greensboro 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=participants&tid=29080. Admission to the tournament is free to the public.
3 Furman 286 -2
T5 Walker Crosby (1) 70 -2
T5 Harris Barth (2) 70 -2
T12 Ross Funderburke (5) 72 E
T20 Will Morlan (3) 74 +2
T22 Trey Diehl (4) 75 +3
