Central Oklahoma, Florida Southern jump out to early leads at South/South Central Super Regional

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DUNCAN, Okla. (May 1) – Top-seeded Central Oklahoma and No. 2 seed Florida Southern raced to convincing leads in their respective regions Monday in the opening round of the 2006 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships South/South Central Super Regional. The teams turned in the only sub-par team scores of the day to open up sizable advantages over their respective regional opponents on the 7,077-yard layout at The Territory Golf Club near Duncan.

Florida Southern, ranked No. 4 in the national GolfStat Division II head-to-head collegiate rankings, turned in a sizzling team score of 278 (-10) and holds a 13-stroke advantage over third-ranked Lynn University entering Tuesday's second round. The Mocs posted four of the top eight individual scores on Monday in the South Region, including a pair of 69s on the par-72 track by Brett Blondell and Greg Koch. Both enter the second round tied atop the South leaderboard with Nick Gillaspy of Barry University and West Florida's Will Grace.

FSC also got rounds of 70 (-2) from Marc France and Blake Holbrook to pull away from the field.

Lynn posted a team score of 291 Monday, one stroke better than North Alabama and two ahead of West Florida and Rollins College.

In the South Central Region, UCO used a pair of sub-par individual efforts to open up an eight-stroke advantage over host Cameron University. Mitch Boles tied Northeastern State's Brad Risenhoover for low daily round honors with a four-under 68, while Chance Tatum added a two-under 70 for the eighth-ranked Bronchos. Cameron, ranked No. 14 in the GolfStat rankings, was led by Travis Lovins' three-under 69 that put the Canadian, Texas, senior alone in third place entering Tuesday play.

Peter Svajlen and Owen Mahaffey each carded rounds of 73 to finish the round tied for 12th individually in the region, while Matt Trammell finished with a 76 for the Aggies.

Lone Star Conference champion Northeastern State and St. Mary's University produced team scores of 292 (+4) and lurk one stroke behind Cameron in a tie for third in the South Central Region.

Action continues on Tuesday with the second round of play. The tournament will conclude with a final 18-hole round Wednesday at The Territory. Each regional winner, along with the next three lowest-scoring teams in the combined field and the low individual not on a qualifying team in each region, will advance to the 2006 NCAA Division II National Championships, scheduled for May 16-19 in Daniels, W.Va.