NINETY SIX, S.C. – Charleston Southern's men's golf program opened the Big South Championships on fire Thursday, leading the pack after the first round before owning second place among the 10 schools at the end of 36 holes. The Buccaneers are one of only two teams with a team score under par following day one action at The Patriot at Grand Harbor course.

FIRST ROUND LEAD
Charleston Southern carded a cumulative 7-under par 281, tying its lowest 18-hole total of the season, over the course of the first 18. The tally put the Bucs in front of the pack by four strokes over Gardner-Webb and Winthrop.

The 281 matches the third-round score from the Golfweek/Any Given Intercollegiate event, March 30, and helped carry CSU to the team title in Pawleys Island. The previous best first round of 2021-22 was a 2-under 286 in the season-opening Graeme McDowell Intercollegiate in Gadsden, Alabama, in late September 2021.

TWO IN THE TOP 10
A pair of Buccaneers have slotted themselves among the Top-10 individuals, led by a 3-under 141 from Alan Smith to share sixth place with three others and four strokes behind day-one leader Henrik Lilja of Campbell.

Smith registered an eagle and nine birdies throughout his 36 holes on his way to posting a 70-71. In the first round, he started off with back-to-back birdies on the par-4, 415-yard No. 10 and par-4, 440-yard No. 11, quickly dropping his score below par where it remained the rest of the round. He used five pars over the next-six holes to stay in the hunt before closing the back nine with another birdie on the par-5, 550-yard No. 18. After making the turn, added birdies on the par-5, 560-yard No. 5 and par-5, 527-yard No. 8 to get back to 2-under for the round while mixing in five pars.

In the second round, he continued to find success on No. 8 by dropping in the eagle, one of eight on the course throughout the day. He worked through five pars and three bogies plus a double bogey on the back nine to flip his scorecard around after making the turn and recovering with an impressive 6-under 30 over his final-nine holes. He birdied the par-4, 430-yard No. 2 before his most successful stretch of the day, lowering his score by five strokes over a four-hole span that included birdies on No. 5, the par-4, 363-yard No. 6 and par-3, 148-yard No. 7 before the eagle.

Joining him in the Top 10 is Griffin Tarver, who registered a 68-74—142 (-2) to share his spot with two others. His second career round in the 60s began with a birdie on No. 10 and another on the par-5, 578-yard No. 13 before five-consecutive pars through No. 18. After making the turn, the birdies continued to fall as he made four more in a five-hole span, on No. 2 and then three-in-a-row starting with the par-3, 194-yard No. 4 and continuing through No. 6. He closed his first round with three-straight pars to join Radford's Bryce Corbett as the opening-round leader.

Tarver's day continued with six pars on the back nine, a lone birdie on No. 18, before three more after making the turn. He recorded his second straight with another on the par-4, 396-yard No. 1 and then another set of successive birdies on No. 5 and No. 6.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
The next-two Charleston Southern players in the clubhouse are slotted just outside the Top 10, led by Ethan Willis who is in 14th place with an Even-par 74-70—144. He had the best improvement of any Bucs player between rounds with the four-stroke difference. In round one, he notched all three of his birdies on the back nine, on No. 11, the par-4, 368-yard No. 12 and No. 18 and then stayed within striking distance of Even par with six pars on the front nine, including five straight from No. 5 through No. 9.

Round two saw him have more success, carding five birdies including four on the front nine. He posted three-straight birdies, from No. 18 through No. 2, before his second three-hole span of pars during the round and his last-two birdies on No. 6 and No. 7. Overall, he had 10 pars for the second-straight round to be the only player in the field at Even par through the 36 holes.

Ben Carroll, like Tarver, found his way into the 60s during the first round with a 3-under par 69 but fell back after a 4-over 76 in the afternoon. He remarkably parred his first-11 holes after starting on No. 10 and running the streak through the turn and into his first non-par, a bogey, on the par-4, 373-yard No. 3. He recovered with another par on No. 4 before a stretch of four-straight birdies from No. 5 through No. 8, only halted by his final par of the round on the par-4, 445-yard No. 9.

He struggled to find the same level of success in his second trek around the course, starting off with a 5-over par on the back nine before rebounding with a 1-under during his final-nine holes. He added another span of five-straight pars, from No. 3 through No. 7, and capped his day with back-to-back birdies on No. 8 and No. 9, looking to use that as momentum for Friday's final round.

LOUDIN COUNTS IN SECOND ROUND
Two steady rounds for Caleb Loudin, the remaining CSU player in the field, resulted in his second 18 being counted into the team score to help keep the Bucs in front of eight other schools. He carded a 4-over 76 during the first round, tallying just birdie on No. 8, in addition to 13 pars that included a five-hole span from No. 16 through No. 2 and a four-hole streak from No. 4 through No. 7.

His score lowered by a stroke to a 3-over 75 in the second round, highlighted by three birdies on the back nine before making the turn. He came in under par on the par-4, 430-yard No. 14, the par-3, 211-yard No. 17 and on No. 18. He used the back-to-back birdies to propel himself into a 1-over during the final-nine holes of the day as a pair of four-hole par stretches sandwiched a lone bogey on No. 5 to be a counter in the team score.

AIMING FOR COVETED TOP-FOUR
The top-four schools following Friday's final round of stroke play advance to Saturday's match play, which will ultimately determine the league champion and NCAA Regionals automatic berth recipient. Charleston Southern currently joins Campbell as the only two schools under par and the Buccaneers are six strokes clear of third-place Gardner-Webb.

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN INDIVIDUALS
T6. Alan Smith, -3 (70-71—141)
T10. Griffin Tarver, -2 (68-74—142)
14. Ethan Willis, E (74-70—144)
T15. Ben Carroll, +1 (69-76—145)
T34. Caleb Loudin, +7 (76-75—151)

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Campbell, -8 (287-281—568)
2. Charleston Southern, -5 (281-290—571)
3. Gardner-Webb, +1 (285-292—577)
4. Winthrop, +2 (285-293—578)
5. High Point, +5 (288-293—581)
6. USC Upstate, +7 (293-290—583)
7. Presbyterian, +10 (296-290—586)
8. Radford, +11 (294-293—587)
9. Longwood, +28 (307-297—604)
10. North Carolina A&T, +30 (301-305—606)