Gribble and Stone lead No. 2 Men's Golf at Amer Ari Invitational

Wednesday, February 6

Waikoloa Village GC/Kona, Hawaii

All Day

University of Texas

Amer Ari Invitational

Gribble and Stone lead No. 2 Men's Golf at Amer Ari Invitational

02.06.2013 | Men's Golf

Feb. 6, 2013

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii -- Senior Cody Gribble and freshman Brandon Stone co-led No. 2 Texas Men's Golf in its spring debut with a pair of 3-under-par 69s in Wednesday's opening round of the Amer Ari Invitational. Gribble and Stone are tied for 10^th place, while the Longhorns are sitting at third place in the 20-team field at 9-under 279.

Texas rallied from the middle of the team standings as three of its four counting scorers -Gribble, junior Toni Hakula and junior Brax McCarthy - combined for six birdies over their final two holes of play.

After three straight pars to begin his final semester as a Longhorn, Gribble sank his first birdie on the fourth hole of Waikoloa Kings' Course. A lone bogey followed two holes later, but Gribble found a second subpar on the ninth hole to turn at 1-under. He continued to play steady golf with seven more even holes and capped off his round with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.

Stone started off hot and was 3-under through his first four holes with a birdie on No. 2 and an eagle at No. 4. He carded another birdie on the eighth hole and turned at -4. Stone's scorecard was relatively quiet on the back nine as he incurred a lone blemish at No. 16 that cost him one stroke to result in the 69.

Hakula (70) finished one stroke behind Gribble and Stone and is tied for 14^th place. McCarthy is tied for 23^rd in his collegiate debut after a 1-under 71 and redshirt freshman Will Griffin (77) is tied for 96^th place.

Texas also fielded two individuals in this week's event. Senior Julio Vegas is tied for 39^th place (72) and sophomore Kramer Hickok (73) is tied for 51^st.

TCU and UCLA share the team lead at 11-under 277. TCU's Daniel Jennevret holds the individual lead after firing a 5-under 67. Eight players are tied at 4-under 68 for second place.

The Longhorns are set to begin Thursday's second round at 11:30 a.m. in a shotgun start off the 6-10^th tees.

The Amer Ari Invitational
Waikoloa Kings' Course (par-72; 7,074 yards)
First-round results
T1. TCU - 277 (-11)
T1. UCLA - 277 (-11)
3. Texas - 279 (-9)
4. Washington - 280 (-8)
5. Auburn - 281 (-7)
6. Georgia Tech - 283 (-5)
7. Texas Tech - 284 (-4)
T8. Oregon - 287 (-1)
T8. Stanford - 287 (-1)
10. Oklahoma State - 288 (E)
11. Oregon State - 289 (+1)
T12. Southern California - 291 (+3)
T12. Arizona State - 291 (+3)
T14. Hawaii-Hilo (DII) - 293 (+5)
T14. Osaka Gakuin University - 293 (+5)
16. Colorado - 295 (+7)
17. San Jose State - 296 (+8)
T18. Hawaii - 298 (+10)
T18. UC Davis - 298 (+10)
20. CSU-Stanislaus (DII) - 307 (+19)

First-round player leaderboard
1. Daniel Jennevret, TCU - 67 (-5)
T2. Eli Cole, TCU - 68 (-4)
T2. Pedro Figueiredo, UCLA - 68 (-4)
T2. David Fink, Oregon State - 68 (-4)
T2. Manav Shah, UCLA - 68 (-4)
T2. Clement Sordet, Texas Tech - 68 (-4)
T2. Pontus Widegren, UCLA - 68 (-4)
T2. Chris Williams, Washington - 68 (-4)
T10. Cody Gribble, Texas - 69 (-3)
T10. Brandon Stone, Texas - 69 (-3)
T10. Bo Andrews, Georgia Tech - 69 (-3)
T10. Steven Kearney, Stanford - 69 (-3)