KINGSTON, R.I.--USC Aiken, riding the crest of a school-record seven consecutive tournament wins, is in second place after day one of the Adams Cup of Newport. The two-time defending NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Champions are 33-over-par after 36 holes, trailing Texas A&M by six strokes. Senior All-American Scott Brown is tied for the individual lead at two-over-par.

The two-day event is being contested at the 7,244 yard, par 72 Newport National Golf Club in Kingston, R.I. The University of Rhode Island is serving as host of the 16-team Division I field. USCA joins Bryant College (R.I.) as the only Division II schools competing.

Following an opening round of 13-over-par 301, the Pacers found themselves atop the leaderboard, four shots in front of North Carolina. Windy conditions, however, resulted in higher scores across the board as no one in the 80-player field is better than two-over-par and only #30 Texas A&M (297) and Virginia Commonwealth (296) turned in sub-300 team scores, both in the second round.

After a second round of 308, USCA (+33) fell to second. North Carolina is third at 34-over-par while Southeastern Louisiana (+35) and the host Rhode Island Rams (+36) round out the top five.

Brown fired an opening round even-par 72 and followed that up with a two-over-par 74. The North Augusta, S.C. native is tied with Texas A&M’s Bronson Burgoon atop the individual standings. Brown is seeking his eighth-straight top 10 finish.

Dane Burkhart, the reigning NCAA individual champion and Division II Player of the Year, carded rounds of 76 and 77 to sit tied for 12th with five other golfers at nine-over-par. Heralded freshman Matt Giftos opened with a 74 and was tied for third, but a second round 80 dropped him into a tie for 18th at 10-over-par.

Clint Smith is tied for 32nd following rounds of 79 and 77 while Casey Thompson turned in scores of 83 and 84 and is tied for 71st.

Winners of seven-straight, the Pacers are fresh off a win last week at the Raines Development Group Invitational, a Division I event hosted by Francis Marion. It was their 13th win in the last 15 events. The 2005 Hall of Fame Invitational in mid-March was the last time USCA entered a tournament and did not end up at the top of the leaderboard.

Tuesday final round is set to begin at 8:00 AM.

ADAMS CUP OF NEWPORT
NEWPORT NATIONAL G.C. KINGSTON, RI
PAR: 72 YARDAGE: 7,244 DATES: SEPTEMBER 26-27

TEAM RESULTS
1 Texas A&M................................306 297 603 +27
2 USC Aiken................................301 308 609 +33
3 North Carolina............................305 305 610 +34
4 Southeastern Louisiana.............306 305 611 +35
5 Rhode Island..............................307 305 612 +36
6 South Florida..............................317 301 618 +42
VCU..............................................322 296 618 +42
8 North Texas...............................310 310 620 +44
9 Georgetown...............................317 310 627 +51
10 Texas-San Antonio..................323 306 629 +53
11 Marshall....................................320 316 636 +60
12 Yale..........................................318 321 639 +63
13 Furman.....................................320 320 640 +64
14 Iowa State................................322 319 641 +65
15 East Carolina............................329 319 648 +72
16 Bryant (R.I.)..............................323 327 650 +74

USCA INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (+33) (2nd)
Scott Brown.........................72 74 146 +2 (T-1st)
Dane Burkhart......................76 77 153 +9 (T-12th)
Matt Giftos............................74 80 154 +10 (T-18th)
Clint Smith.............................79 77 156 +12 (T-32nd)
Casey Thompson.................83 84 167 +23 (T-71st)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Scott Brown, USC Aiken.........72 74 146 +2 (T-1st)
Bronson Burgoon, TAMU.........74 72 146 +2 (T-1st)