April 15, 2005

NEW LONDON, N.C. - Sophomore transfer Tully Coyle shot a 1-under-par 71 to tie for third place individually and junior John Eades finished at 73 in Friday's opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference men's golf tournament being held at the Old North State Club.

As a team, Maryland was tied for seventh place with a team total of 302 after the first 18 holes, but was only three strokes out of fourth place following the opening round.

Coyle had four birdies on the front nine on Friday, posting a 3-under 33 by the turn. He also birdied the final hole to finish at 71, his best round as a Terrapin since transferring from the University of Tulsa at the beginning of the spring semester. He was one of only five players to break par on Friday.

Eades, the scoring-average leader this season for Maryland, went out in 35, but suffered a double-bogey on the 17th hole and finished in a tie for seventh at 73.

Also for Maryland, sophomore Tyler Witman used an even-par 36 on the back nine to card a 78 and tie for 32nd place on Friday. Sophomore Hunter Bendall was in 42nd place after opening with an 80 and senior Bobby MacWhinnie finished at 83 to tie for 48th place.

Individual leader Ryan Blaum of Duke birded four of the final seven holes to finish at 4-under-par 68. He led by two strokes over Brad Tilley of Virginia, with Coyle in a group of three players three shots behind the leader.

Blaum sparked Duke to the first-round lead in the team standings, as the Blue Devils had four players shoot 76 or better. Duke led the field at 292, with Georgia Tech one shot behind and Florida State in third at 297.

The second round will begin on Saturday at 8:30 a.m., with the final round set for Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring updates are available at www.golfstat.com.

TEAM SCORES
1. Duke 292; 2. Georgia Tech 293; 3. Florida State 297; T4. NC State 299; T4. Virginia 299; 6. Clemson 300; T7. Wake Forest 302; T7. Maryland 302; 9. Virginia Tech 308; 10. North Carolina 314.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1. Ryan Blaum, Duke, 68; 2. Brad Tilley, Virginia, 70; T3. Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech, 71; T3. Tully Coyle, Maryland, 71; T3. Jack Ferguson, Clemson, 71.

MARYLAND SCORES
T3. Tully Coyle 33-38--71; T7. John Eades 35-38--73; T32. Tyler Witman 42-36--78; 42. Hunter Bendall 41-39--80; T48. Bobby MacWhinnie 42-41--83.