Led by sophomore Eric Edwards, the George Mason golf team is currently in fourth place after the opening round at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Championship at the Villas of Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla.
The Patriots carded a team score of 301 (+13), three shots behind preseason favorite VCU. Dayton and Richmond are at the top of the leaderboard with six-over par team performances. The Flyers were led by Ryan Flick who is tied with Richmond's Matthew Lowe at one-under par after carding a 71 today.
Edwards is currently tied for third place in the tournament after carding even par 72 on the 7,024-yard layout, one stroke behind co-leaders Flick and Lowe. He was in first place for a short time at two-under par through 16 holes, but a double-bogey on the Par 3 17th hole set him back.
The Salisbury, N.C. native carded four birdies in the first nine, including three of the last four holes, to make the turn at 34. Edwards played the second nine played at two-over par with only one birdie, a bogey and a double-bogey. He is second in the field in scoring on the par 5s, scoring a birdie on three of the four holes (-3.00). He also leads the field in birdies with five tied with five other golfers.
Junior Kyle Hart carded five birdies in the round but four bogeys and a double-bogey dropped him to one-over par. He played the par 3s at one-under par, which leads the field. He is currently tied for sixth place overall.
Senior Mark Folkwein was consistent and steady recording 13 pars on the course for a four-over par 76 and tied for 20th overall.
The second round of the three-day/54-hole Championship will continue Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m.
GEORGE MASON 301(+13)
T3 Eric Edwards 70
T6 Kyle Hart 73
T20 Mark Folkwein 76
T39 Brock Kovach 82
T46 Ellis Messian 80
