INNISBROOK, Fla. – The Valdosta State men's golf team opened the 2023 Copperhead Championship with a team score of 597 through 36 holes and sit 15^th heading into Tuesday's final round on the par 71,7,209-yard Innisbrook Resort Copperhead Course
 
Lee University leads the 16-team field with a 4-under 564 score, two shots ahead of host West Florida (566), while Tampa is third at 570.  Grand Valley State is fourth (573), followed by Florida Southern (574) for fifth. 
 
Lander, Lynn and Coker are tied for sixth at 575, followed by Nova Southeastern at 580 and Oklahoma Christian is tenth at 581.  Saint Leo sits 11^th (583), followed by Shorter (584), Cameron (588), Barry (589) and VSU at 15^th with a 597 score. Carson-Newman is 16^th at 599.
 
The field will begin with a shotgun start Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. Click here for live scoring of the final round. 
 
Individually, Lee's Oliver Lewis-Perkins leads the field with a 6-under 136 on rounds of 67 and 69, while West Florida's Nico Lang is second at 4-under 138 (68, 70).  There is a tie for third between Cameron's Rudy Sautron and Oklahoma Christian's Leandro Mihaich at 3-under 139 and a four-way tie for fifth at 2-under.  In all, 14 players are under par, while an additional four players are at even par. 
 
For the Blazers, junior Chase Long is tied for 30^th with a 3-over 145, while junior Brandon Cho, freshman Alexander Nilehn and junior Parker Highsmith are tied for 65^th at 9-over 151.  Sophomore Ty Folsom is tied for 88^th at 160.  Playing as an individual, junior Zach Ashley also is nine over with a 151 score and tied for 65^th.
 
The first round saw the host Argos put up a 4-under 280 score, edging Tampa by one stroke and Lee by two strokes.  Oklahoma Christian sat fourth (285), followed by Coker (287).  There was a tie for sixth between Lander and Nova Southeastern (289), while Grand Valley State sat eighth at 290.  Lynn and Florida Southern tied for ninth (291), while Saint Leo was just in front of VSU with a 293 score.  Barry and Shorter were tied for 13^th (296), while Cameron was 15^th at 301 and Carson-Newman was 16^th at 305. 
 
Shorter's Nathan Todd led the way with a 5-under 66 in the first round, while Lee's Oliver Lewis-Perkins and Tampa's Jonty Marshall each carded a 67 for a tie for second.  A total of ten players shot the opening round under par and an additional ten shot even par 71.
 
Blazer freshman Alexander Nilehn and junior Chase Long each opened with a 73, while junior Parker Highsmith carded a 74 and sophomore Ty Folsom fired a 75.  Junior Brandon Cho carded a 76 in the opening round.  Junior Zach Ashley is competing as an individual and he opened with a 75.