Razorbacks -2 and T8 After SEC Championship 1st Rd
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. –Arkansas shot a 2-under-par round of 278 and is tied for eighth after 18 holes at the 2023 SEC Championships, played at the par-70 Sea Island Golf Club – Seaside Course.
Seniors Julian Perico and Wil Gibson led the Razorbacks, each posting a 2-under-par 68’s to tie for 11th.
The 278 ties for the seventh-best score at the SEC Championship and ties #13 Tennessee for eight after the opening round. #15 Texas A&M leads with an 11-under-par 269, followed by #17 Alabama (270), #8 Auburn (271), #18 Mississippi State (275), #21 Ole Miss (275), #1 Vanderbilt (276) and #9 Florida (277).
The Razorbacks started on hole 10 and were 6-under at the turn but were +4 over their final nine holes.
Perico, who posted his third career round in the 60’s at the SEC Championship, was 3-under at the turn with birdies on holes 13, 14 and 14. He dropped a shot on the par-3, 3rd hole but bounced back two holes later with a birdie. However, he suffered a bogey on his final hole to settle for his 2-under-par 68.
Gibson tied his career-best round at the SEC Championships, also shooting 68 in last year’s second round. The Jonesboro product WAS 1-over after three holes but carded birdies on holes 13, 18 and 1 to get to 2-under for the day. After a bogey on his 11th hole, the par-4, 2nd, he answered with a birdie on the par-3, 3rd before finishing his round with six pars to shoot 68.
2021 SEC Champion Segundo Oliva Pinto offset his two bogeys on his back nine with two birdies on his front nine to shoot an even-par round of 70 to tie for 35th.
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira and Manuel Lozada each turned in rounds of 72 and are tied for 50th.
The second of three rounds is set for Thursday.
2023 SEC Championship
Stroke Play: April 19-21
Sea Island Golf Club – Seaside Course || St. Simons Island, Ga.
7,005 yards || Par 70
TEAM SCORES:
1 #15 Texas A&M 269 / -11
2 #17 Alabama 270 / -10
3 #8 Auburn 271 / -9
T4 #18 Mississippi State 275 / -5
T4 #21 Ole Miss 275 / -5
6 #1 Vanderbilt 276 / -4
7 #9 Florida 277 / -3
T8 #36 Arkansas 278 / -2
T8 #13 Tennessee 278 / -2
10 #31 Georgia 280 / E
11 #43 Missouri 281 / +1
12 #41 LSU 282 / +2
13 South Carolina 289 / +9
14 Kentucky 290 / +10
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.