Bulldogs, Mitchell Have Early Lead At Carpet Capital

Led by senior captain T.J. Mitchell, the 19th-ranked Georgia men's golf team grabbed the first-round lead at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Championship on Friday at The Farm Golf Club.

Playing in their season-opening tournament, the Bulldogs fired a 10-under-par 278 on Friday, paced by Mitchell's 7-under 65. Georgia will enter the second round on Saturday holding a 6-shot lead over Alabama (284).

Mitchell's 65 put him atop the leaderboard, and he has a 2-shot edge over Alabama's Bobby Wyatt. Mitchell is the lone senior on the Bulldogs' roster.

Freshman Lee McCoy made his Georgia debut on Friday by firing a 4-under 68 and is in third individually. Junior Joey Garber signed for a 1-under 71 to stand 15th. Junior Keith Mitchell followed at 2-over 74, while sophomore Nicholas Reach had the Bulldogs' non-counting score of 5-over 77.

"It was so nice to see us get off to a good start," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "Our guys have really been dialed in during the summer, and they've been playing with a lot of confidence. We've got a long way to go this weekend and we need to keep the focus that we had today these next two rounds. T.J. was a great leader for us today. That's the perfect role for him. He was striking the ball really well today."

The Bulldogs will return to The Farm on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.. Live scoring can be found at golfstat.com.