Liberty University
General Hackler Championship
Golf Tied for 13th Place after Day 1 of General Hackler Championship
3/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
No. 55 Liberty struggled to keep pace against a strong field during day one of the 2018 General Hackler Championship on Saturday.
Following 36 holes of play, Liberty is tied for 13th place with an 18-over par 594 (299-295), sharing 13th place with East Tennessee State (298-296).
The two-day, 54-hole event is hosted by Coastal Carolina at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club (par 72, 7,233 yards) in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and features a star-studded field.
All but one of the teams in the 14-team field are currently ranked inside the latest Golfstat.com top 100 team rankings, including No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 8 Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets and Aggies were the only two teams to post scores in red figures on the day. Georgia Tech enters tomorrow's final round in first place with a 9-under par 567 (283-284), while Texas A&M is four strokes back with a 5-under par 571 (281-290).
LSU's Philip Barbaree leads the 84-man field following a 5-under par 139 (68-71), followed one stroke behind by NC State's Stephen Franken (71-69) and Georgia Tech's Luke Schniederjans (71-69) and Chris Petefish (72-68).
Liberty's top golfer in the field is Gabe Lench, who is tied for 31st place following a 3-over par 147 (74-73). The junior finished the day with four birdies, all coming on the back nine holes.
Ervin Chang is one stroke behind Lench and is tied for 38th place with a 4-over par 148 (73-75). The sophomore led the Flames on the day with six birdies.
Payton Taylor parred 23 out of 36 holes on Saturday and stands in 45th place with a 5-over par 149 (76-73).
Isaiah Logue is tied for 53rd place following a 6-over par 150 (76-74), while Mickey DeMorat is tied for 69th place with a 9-over par 153 (78-75).
The Flames will wrap up play at the General Hackler Championship during Sunday's final round where they will be paired with East Tennessee State and tournament host Coastal Carolina. Liberty's golfers will be sent off the No. 10 tee (par 4, 380 yards) starting at 9:15 a.m.
