Date Posted: 4/21/2008

BRASELTON, Ga. - Gardner-Webb's Blake Palmer shot a 6-under par 65 at the Woodlands Course at the Chateau Elan Golf Club to claim a four-stroke lead after the first round of the 2008 Atlantic Sun Men's Golf Championship. Paced by Palmer, the Runnin’ Bulldogs lead the rest of the pack by eight strokes.

Palmer, a junior from nearby Dawsonville, Ga., recorded seven birdies against just one bogey. His first-round score matched the second-lowest first-round score in Men's Championship history and the third-lowest 18-hole total for any round.

"I putted really well and hit the ball great too," Palmer said. "I just got them started and they went in. But I want to be remembered by winning it and not just leading after the first round."

Palmer opened his birdie brigade with the lone sub-par score on the 209-yard par-3 second hole and followed up with a birdie on the par-4 third hole. After a bogey on the fifth hole, he registered birdies on seven, No. 12, No. 14, No. 15 and closed out his round with a birdie on the closing hole. His 65 matched ETSU's Simon Doherty as the low round in the Atlantic Sun this year and established a school record for 18 holes at the Atlantic Sun Championship.

"When you have a 65 to help out, it's easier to have a good round," Gardner-Webb head coach Tee Burton said. "The golf course was set up difficult; there are a lot of tough pins out there, so we are very happy with even pars."

As a team, Gardner-Webb sits atop the 10-team field after shooting an even-par 284 on the day. The defending champion ETSU Buccaneers (292) lead a tight-four team race in second, as four schools sit separated by only four strokes. UNF ended the day in third (293), followed by Campbell (294) and host Kennesaw State (296).

Gardner-Webb finished sixth at the 2007 A-Sun Championship. The Bulldogs' highest finish-ever finish came in 2004, when they came in fifth.

ETSU has two players under par, led by Gareth Shaw who fired a 2-under par 69. Rhys Enoch follows him after a 1-under 70 on the first day. Last year’s champion, Seamus Power, finds himself in a four-way tie for 22nd with a 5-over 76 first round.

"I wasn't my best at all, but I managed to scrape it around…started to play better at the end," Shaw said. "[The course] is a trickier that I thought it was. You have to be very cautious off the tee."

The third-place Ospreys boast four of their five players within three strokes of par. Chris Kennedy shot a 1-over 72, leading the effort. Jordan Gibb (73), J.C. Horne (74) and last-year's championship runner-up Michael O'Neal (74) are all in the top-12.

Stetson (306), Mercer (308), Belmont (313), Lipscomb (314) and Jacksonville (316) round-out the first-day's efforts.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Related Links:
 • Men's Golf Championship Coverage
 •  First Round Stats