WALLACE, N.C. -- Junior Julian Suri and sophomore Austin Cody each fired even-par 72s on Friday to lead Duke into fifth place after one round of play at the River Landing Intercollegiate. Suri and Cody are tied for 14th overall, four shots off the lead, with the first round of play in the books at River Landing Golf Course.
Friday's play was delayed two and a half hours due to weather conditions forcing the 36-hole day to be shortened to 27 holes. Saturday's action will also feature 27 holes of play. Only first round scores are recorded as second round scorecards are not official until they can be verified following completion of the round.
Liberty grabbed the 18-hole lead with a five-under 283 with N.C. State and Maryland tied for second with two-under 286s. North Carolina (289, +1) and Duke (291, +3) round out the top five and are followed by South Carolina (293, +5), Virginia Tech (294, +6), VCU (297, +9), Winthrop (301, +13), East Carolina (304, +16), Jacksonville (309, +21) and UNC-Wilmington (314, +26).
Robert Karlsson (Liberty) and Jordan Sweet (Maryland) share the individual lead at four-under (68), two shots better than Mitchell Sutton (N.C. State) and Jack Keefe (East Carolina).
Suri collected his third even-par round of the season with a 72 in the first round. He opened with a one-under 35 on the front nine before closing with a one-under 37 after the turn. The St. Augustine, Fla., native has now shot even-par or better in 17 of 25 rounds this season, including 11 of his last 12 rounds played.
Cody, a native of North Charleston, S.C., posted a 36-36=72 on Friday. He was one of 26 players to shoot even-par or better in the opening round.
Junior Brinson Paolini and freshman Turner Southey-Gordon entered the second round tied for 26th after shooting one-over 73s in the opening round. Southey-Gordon is competing in the event as an individual.
Adam Sumrall got off to the slow start in round one with a three-over 39 on the front nine. He rebounded after the turn for a one-under 35 to post a two-over- 74 on the day. He is tied for 32nd overall along with teammate Tim Gornik. Gornik, competing as an individual, fired a two-under 34 on the back nine on Friday after struggling to a four-over 40 on the opening nine holes.
Senior Spencer Anderson, also competing as an individual, shot a 35-42=77 on Friday and is tied for 56th, while sophomore Yaroslav Merkulov is tied for 64th after a seven-over 79 in the opening round.
Duke returns to action on Saturday with nine holes remaining in the second round. Following the completion of the second round the 18-hole final round will begin.
The Blue Devils unofficially sit at four-under at the midway point of the second round. Suri and Paolini are two-under at the turn while Merkulov and Sumrall shot even-par on the first nine holes (No. 10-18) of the second round. Suri opened the second round by nearly acing the par 3 10th hole.