What You Need to Know:
* Senior JJ Grey shot an opening round 6-under 65 to sit in first place and lead Georgia State on the opening day of the Sun Belt Championship at The Raven Golf Club in Miramar Beach, Fla.
* Georgia State finished the day with a 2-under 282 and leads the 11-team field with 36 holes to play by six strokes over Texas State and Troy.
* For the first time ever, the league champion will be determined by match play. After 54 holes, the top four teams will advance to match play to decide a champion.
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Georgia State senior JJ Grey opened the 2016 Sun Belt Championship with a 6-under 65 to lead the field and give the Panthers six- stroke lead following the opening day of the Sun Belt Championship at The Raven Golf Club in Miramar Beach, Fla.
Georgia State, looking for its eighth conference title, shot an opening round 2-under 282. The top four teams after 54 holes of stroke play will advance to match play to decide the champion with No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3 scheduled for Wednesday morning. The winners will advance to the championship match on Wednesday afternoon.
Since 1998, Georgia State has finished in the top three in the conference tournament all but three times with seven titles and six second-place finishes.
After birding his first three holes, Grey, ranked No. 81 in the country, continued his strong play throughout the round, finishing the day with seven birdies to lead the 55-player field by one stroke. Grey's opening nine 5-under 30 included five of his seven birdies. His round tied the lowest for a member of the GSU team in conference tournament play, equalling rounds of 65 from Joel Sjoholm (2008) and Allen John (2009). Their 65's were on par 72.
“It was a good start to the championship,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We put a little distance between us and field. You cannot win the championship on the first day, but you can put yourself in a great position and we did that today.
“JJ played some really nice golf today. He is our leader and has stepped up his play as his career at Georgia State comes to an end. I look forward to big things from his this week and moving forward.”
Freshman Nick Budd opened play with an even par 71 and sits tied for ninth following play on Sunday.
Junior Nathan Mallonee and sophomore Max Herrmann each shot rounds of 2-over 73 and stand tied for 17th. Sophomore Alexander Herrmann rounded out the line-up with a 7-over 78 and is alone in 49th.
Georgia State leads Texas State and Troy which are tied for second at 4-over par by six strokes. Arkansas State stands tied for fourth at 5-over, with UT Arlington in fifth at 6-over.
Grey leads Little Rock's Noah Tullos who is alone in second at 5-under par. Troy's Calum Masters is third at 4-under, followed South Alabama's Daniel Jansen in fourth at 3-under. Georgia Southern's Archer Price and Arkansas State's Tanner Napier round out the top five at 2-under par.
For round two, Georgia State will be paired with Texas State and Troy, teeing off a 9:15 a.m. ET. Live scoring of the event will be available at GolfStat.com. Live video streaming can be found at SunBeltSports.org/watchlive.
With a conference championship win, Georgia State will automatically earn a spot into NCAA Regional play which will be played May 16-18 at six national sites. Without a win, the Panthers will have to wait to see if they are selected as an at-large team. The NCAA championship is scheduled for May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
