MILTON, Ga. – The No. 34 Valdosta State men's golf team fired rounds of 297 and 298 for a 595 score on the first day of the Southern Tide Intercollegiate Monday on the par 72, 6,966-yard Atlanta National Golf Club.  No. 6 Carson-Newman leads the 20-team field with a 10-under 566 score heading into Tuesday's final round.
 
Following Carson-Newman in the team standings is No. 3 South Carolina-Aiken with a 6-under 570 score as the Pacers jumped five spots following a 289 opening round with a 7-under 281 score for the low-round of the day.  No. 2 Barry sits third (571), followed by a three-way tie for fourth between No. 24 and host Limestone, No. 5 Lee and No. 26 Queens University at 575.  Top-ranked Lincoln Memorial is seventh (577), followed by No. 7 Arkansas Tech at 578, while No. 31 Clayton State is ninth (581) and a tie for tenth between No. 8 West Florida and No. 14 North Georgia at 582.  
 
There is a tie for 13^th between No. 19 Florida Southern and No. 27 Columbus State at 589, while No. 10 Saint Leo is 15^th at 592, followed by No. 11 Georgia Southwestern (594), one stroke ahead of the Blazers (595).  No. 9 Erskine is 18^th at 599, followed by Young Harris (608) and Georgia College is 20^th at 627.  
 
Individually, Carson-Newman's No. 24-ranked Jonathan Nielsen leads the field with a 12-under 132 on rounds of 69 and a blistering 63 in the second round.  USCA's No. 5-ranked Leo Johansson sits second at 8-under 136.  In all, 23 players are under par, while two players are tied at even par compiling the top 26 players in the field.
 
For the Blazers, junior Chase Weathers, senior Gage Smith and junior Davis Smith all are tied for 44^th with a 148 score.  Weathers and D. Smith each fired a pair of 74s, while G. Smith opened with a 76 and finished the day with a 72.  Sophomore Ryan Pollman is tied for 68^th with a 151 score on rounds of 73 and 78, while graduate student Wesley Hanson is 95^th with a 160 score on rounds of 79 and 81.  
 
VSU sits third in par 5 scoring at 13-under, but went +9 in par 3 scoring and +39 in par four scoring.  The Blazers had 103 pars to tie for seventh on the day, while recording 27 birdies and two eagles.  Both Weathers and Pollman eagled the par 5 No. 9 hole in the second round.
 
For Tuesday's final round, the Blazers will play with Erskine, Young Harris and Georgia College and begin the shotgun start on hole 10 at 8:30 a.m.
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for a complete recap of the final round Tuesday afternoon.