April 18, 2003

First Round Results | Second Round Pairings

NEW LONDON, N.C. - Only two individuals bettered par and no team posted a below par score as the 50th annual Atlantic Coast Conference men's golf championship got underway here today at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point.

An all-day rain, heavy at time, delayed the start of play for the day 90 minutes and caused the scores to range a from three-under par 69 to a high of 16 over par 88.

The University of North Carolina grabbed the opening-round lead with a two-over 290, three shots better than Wake Forest and four ahead of Clemson. Duke placed fourth at 303 with defending champion Georgia Tech fifth at 305. Virginia is seventh at 310 followed by Florida State and Maryland, tied at 311, and N.C. State ninth at 312.

Wake Forest's Bill Haas, a junior from Greer, S.C., had the day's best round with the three-under 69, and defending champion Dustin Bray, a North Carolina junior from Asheboro, N.C., had the day's only other sub-par round with a one-under 71.

Bray, who had an opening-round 66 a year ago in posting his 11-under par victory, birdied his first two holes in shooting the day's other sub-par round. He finished his round with five birdies and four bogies.

Five players posted even-par rounds of 72. They are Ramon Bescansa and Richard Treis of North Carolina, Jack Ferguson and Ben Duncan, both of Clemson, and Brent Wanner of Wake Forest.

Coach John Inman of North Carolina said, "They really battled through and I couldn't be happier with them shooting two over par. To get through this day with that score bodes well for the weekend."