What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State opened play with rounds of 296 and 290 to sit tied for fourth at the Old Waverly Championship with 18 holes to play on Tuesday.
* Junior Nathan Mallonee and freshman Nick Budd both are among the top 20 golfers at 2-over par following 36 holes.
* Georgia State will tee off in the final round in a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning.
WEST POINT, Miss.– Georgia State shot rounds of 296 and 290 to sit in a tie for fourth place following 36 holes at the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship hosted by Mississippi State on Monday. Nathan Mallonee and Nick Budd both sit among the top 20 with 18 holes to play on Tuesday.
The Panthers are 10-over par, 14 shots back of leader McNeese State which stands at 4-under par following a second round 283. Ole Miss is 3-under par and in second place, with Lipscomb in third at 1-over. Kansas State is tied with Georgia State at 10-over par. The Panthers lead fourth Sun Belt schools which GSU will compete against later this month for a conference championship.
Mallonee and Budd each shot rounds of 75 and 71 to lead the Panthers after day one. Both are tied for 20th, just three strokes shy of moving into the top five.
Georgia State enters the week No. 64 in the latest Golfweek rankings and the second-highest ranked team in the field of 15.
“We got off to a bit of a rough start this morning, but I am proud of the way the team bounced back,” head coach Joe Inman said. “The fact that we were able to move all the way up to fourth place says a lot about this team. If we can go out on Tuesday and put together a really strong round, I think we will could still have a chance to come home with a win.”
Senior JJ Grey stands tied for 32nd at 4-over par following rounds of 76 and 72. He entered the week ranked No. 12 in the latest Arnold Palmer Cup standings for the European squad.
Twins Alexander Herrmann and Max Herrmann are tied for 42nd at 6-over. Alexander opened play with a 72, but stumbled in the afternoon with a 78. Max shot 74 in the morning and added a 76 in the afternoon.
South Alabama's Peter Staalbo leads the field at 5-under following rounds of 69 and 70. Ole Miss' Braden Thornberry and McNeese State's Martin Eriksson are tied second at 4-under par. A group of five are tied for fourth at 1-under par, including Kansas State's Matt Green, UL Monroe's Jeff Berry, Chattanooga's Wes Gosselin, Lipscomb's Dawson Armstrong and McNeese State's Duncan McNeill.
Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at BirdieFire.com. The final round is scheduled for Tuesday with a shotgun start beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Following the event, Georgia State will return to the course April 24-27 for the Sun Belt Conference Championship at The Raven in Miramar Beach, Fla. The winner will receive the league's automatic bid to NCAA Regional play in May.
