Welch Paces Sooners in Opening Round

	Team	1	2	3	Score
1.	¹⁵Florida St	277	-	-	-11
2.	Liberty	281	-	-	-7
3.	²²OkState	283	-	-	-5
4.	S. Florida	287	-	-	-1
T5.	¹Oklahoma	289	-	-	+1
T5.	NC State	289	-	-	+1

	OU Golfers	1	2	3	Score
T5.	P. Welch	69	-	-	-3
T12.	Q. Cummins	71	-	-	-1
T32.	G.Reband	73	-	-	+1
T55.	L. McAllister	76	-	-	+4
T70.	T. Johnson	76	-	-	+4
	OU Unattached
T47.	J. Brightwell	75	-	-	+3

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After shooting a 1-over 37 on the front nine, OU junior Patrick Welch fired a 4-under 32 on the back nine to card a 69 (-3) in the Seminole Intercollegiate's opening round to lead the Oklahoma men's golf team on Friday.

The top-ranked Sooners (289, +1) moved into a tie for fifth after sinking 13 birdies over their final nine holes at the par-72, 6,965-yard Golden Eagle Golf and Country Club. Head coach Ryan Hybl's team will have a chance to move up the leaderboard in Saturday's second round at the 54-hole tournament hosted by No. 15 Florida State.

"We didn't do a good enough job on par 3s or par 5s, and that was the separation for us today," Hybl said. "We'll work to get better in tomorrow's round."

Welch's 3-under 69 marks his 14th round in the 60s at Oklahoma, where he owns the school record for career scoring average (71.12). In his 50 rounds played in the Crimson and Cream, the seventh-ranked player in the country has built a reputation as one of the bright young talents in collegiate golf and seeks his fifth top-5 finish.

Steady for the Sooners and tied for 12th after 18 holes was Quade Cummins, who fired a 71 (-1) on Friday in Tallahassee. The All-American is hunting his first collegiate victory and is on pace to finish inside the top 20 for the 25th time as a Sooner.

All-American Garett Reband collected a team-high 13 pars on in round one en route to a 1-over 73 to grab a share of 32nd. He sits one shot off a top-20 placement, which would mark his eighth in a row.

Logan McAllister finished at 4-over on the day, carding a 76 to move to T55. The September Big 12 Golfer of the Month is playing in his 10th event as a Sooner and has fired six par-or-better rounds on in second rounds of tournaments.

Thomas Johnson rounded out the Oklahoma lineup with a 78 (+6) but entered the 18th hole at 3-over after tallying three birdies on his card.

Oklahoma's third All-American, Jonathan Brightwell, competed as an individual Friday and shot a 75 (+3), good for a share of 47th.

Oklahoma tees off in Saturday's second round with No. 15 Florida State and No. 22 Oklahoma State.

Patrick Welch will be first off the tee at 10:30 CT, followed by Logan McAllister and Thomas Johnson at 10:39 and 10:48, respectively. Garett Reband gets started at 10:57 with FSU's John Pak, who leads the PGA Tour U rankings and Oklahoma State's Brian Stark. The final Sooner teeing off is Quade Cummins, ranked sixth in the latest PGA Tour U rankings. He'll match up with No. 8 Vincent Norrman (FSU) and OSU's Austin Eckroat, who's third in the PGA Tour U ranking.