EATONTON, Ga. – Louisiana Tech's James Swash led the way for the Bulldogs during the first round of the Linger Longer Invitational as the junior golfer tied for second after shooting a four-under 68 on Friday.
 
Swash carded five birdies during the first round, including back-to-back birdies on holes 11 and 12, and only had one hole where he finished over par. He sits two strokes behind Middle Tennessee's Connor McKay at first.
 
"Today was really solid," Swash said. "I had good control of my game and left myself a lot of great chances throughout the round. As a team, all we can do is play our own game and it will all come together. We're still in a good position for the tournament and I'm sure we will climb up the leaderboard as the tournament progresses."
 
Louisiana Tech ended the first round of the tournament ranked sixth at a +2 (290).
 
"There was a lot of good stuff today," head coach Matt Terry said. "We need to clean up some par-3 scoring and do a little bit better on the par-5s tomorrow, but overall the attitudes are great. It's not too bad of a number to start the tournament. We are looking forward to tomorrow."
 
Sophomore Hunter Battles +1 (73, T-28th), sophomore Lake Juban +2 (74, T-34th), senior Sam Murphy +3 (75, T-43rd) and senior Mac Murphy +4 (76, T-57th) rounded out Tech's day one scoring at the tournament.
 
Georgia Tech, who ranks No. 40 by Golfstat, led after the first round of the Linger Longer Invitational with a -5 (283). Charlotte -3 (285), Florida Gulf -1 (287), High Point -1 (287) and Memphis +1 (289) rounded out the top five following round one.
 
Tech continues play at the Linger Longer Invitational on Saturday, with the first Bulldog teeing off at 9:15 a.m. CT.
 
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