Coastal Carolina University Leads by Five After First Round of 2024 PGA University Championship

Coastal Carolina University, which holds a five-stroke lead after the first round of the the 2024 PGA University Championship, will lean on its team’s camaraderie and experience in search of its first Jones Cup since 200.5

Coastal Carolina (5-over 293) sits atop the leaderboard five ahead of Mississippi State University (10-over 298) following Tuesday’s opening round at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Methodist University and New Mexico State University are tied for third at 11-over 299 followed by UNLV (18-over 306) in fifth. The competing teams are made up of five players from 17 PGA Golf Management University programs, with the four lowest scores counting toward each team’s total each round.

“Going into the round, I always tell them a good target score for us is a score of 300 for the first day,” said Coastal Carolina PGA Golf Management Program Director Gil Feagin, PGA. “That usually puts you in the top three. I didn't tell them, but I was fairly confident that this team could shoot 288. We had a few hiccups coming in or we would have done it today.”

Jones Saylor (2-under 70), Josh Gruenberg (1-under 71), Trace McDonald (3-over 75) and Hugo Denis (5-over 77) recorded Coastal’s four lowest scores counting toward their team total. Patrick Masci shot 13-over 85.

Saylor, a sophomore at Coastal and the youngest member of their team, posted the low score of the opening round and leads the hunt for the Bill Cioffoletti Trophy, which goes to the medalist of the championship.

“Jones played solid and he's just a complement to his teammates,” said Feagin. “Jones made a lot of good swings. He hit the ball and gave himself a lot of good opportunities.”

Starting on the back nine, Saylor bogeyed his opening hole on the par-5 10th before rebounding with consecutive birdies on the par-3 11th and the par-4 12th.

“That helped me calm me down and get me back focused,” said Saylor. “I was just trying to focus on getting the ball where I needed to and trying to get the putter in my hands. If you miss these greens, they can be very difficult.”

Saylor’s final nine holes were more of a roller coaster. He followed up back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes with a bogey on the par-4 3rd before firing three-straight birdies on holes 4-6. A bogey on the 7th and a double-bogey on the 8th threatened to spoil his round, but he finished strong with a par on the par-4, 325-yard 9th to maintain a one-stroke lead on the individual leaderboard and help keep his team in a great spot heading into tomorrow’s final round.

“The birdie on number four…that really kind of just kickstarted the back nine,” said Saylor. “They pulled the tees up closer on that hole and I just tried to go for it. To be able to get that birdie, it kind of gave me a little bit of jolt of energy after the bogey on three.”

Just behind Saylor on the individual leaderboard is his teammate, senior Josh Gruenberg, who carded five birdies against two bogeys and a double bogey as one of just three players to finish under-par.

Mississippi State senior Jacob Berry is tied with Gruenberg for second on the individual leaderboard at 1-under 71. Methodist’s Peter Malia and New Mexico State’s Ryland Davis carded even-par 72s in a tie for fourth.

“We have a very experienced group of guys and they like to compete,” said Feagin. “I feel good about my team. I expect another round roughly what we got today for tomorrow. These guys can do it.”

The 2024 PGA University Championship, supported by Srixon/Cleveland Golf, concludes on Wednesday at Mid Pines. The final round is scheduled to begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. ET.

The field is competing for the Jones Cup, which is named after the first PGA Golf Management University Program Director at Mississippi State, Dr. S. Roland Jones, who held the position from 1985 until his passing in 1997. The event provides a platform for participants to display professionalism, integrity, character and camaraderie—all characteristics Dr. Jones instilled in PGA Golf Management students