FRANKLIN, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf team is in eighth place after 18 holes of the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate at Vanderbilt Legends Club on the south course.  The Mocs 290 was paced by redshirt Chris Robb's (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) even-par 71.

Robb opened the round with a triple bogey seven on the 10th hole as UTC started on the back side.  He bounced back with birdies on the three par fives on the side (14, 17, 18) to turn at level par.  After bogeys on four and five, Robb carded three consecutive birdies before a bogey on nine ended his round at 71.

Memphis and Oklahoma are tied atop the leaderboard with 10-under par totals of 274.  Ole Miss is third at 282 (-2).

Robb is tied for 17th overall at 71.  Sophomore Simon Forsslund (Stockholm, Sweden), playing in his second collegiate event as a team counter, posted a solid round of 72 (+1).  He is tied for 29th.

Sophomore Steven Fox (Hendersonville, Tenn.) is one shot back with a 73 (+2), tied for 38th.  Junior Stephan Jaeger (Munich, Germany) is yet another stroke back tied for 47th at 74 (+3).  True freshman Davis Bunn (Knoxville, Tenn.) had the drop score with an 80 (+9).

Oklahoma's Will Kropp is the individual leader after a six-under par 65.  Memphis' Jack Belote is in second with a 66 (-5) followed by Ryan Booth of Western Carolina in third at 67 (-4).

Chattanooga tees off No. 1 Saturday morning at 8:05 a.m. (CDT).  The Mocs are paired with Akron and Middle Tennessee.  Bunn will lead off followed by Jaeger (8:14), Fox (8:23), Forsslund (8:32) and Robb (8:41).

LEADERBOARD

NOTES:

>The Mocs were paired with Western Carolina and UT Martin...Topped the Catamounts by four strokes and the Skyhawks by 12.

>First time UTC has played in this event since 2007 when the final 36 holes were washed away by rain.

> It was a tough place for the team to start as the 10th is not only one of the harder holes on the course, but the back side generally plays much tougher than the front making getting off to a good start harder...That proved itself out as the Mocs were six over as a team on the 10th, even for the remaining 17 holes.

>Front Nine (Counters by Round):  +E (E/-/-)...All four counters played the nine at even par.

>Back Nine:  +6 (+6/-/-)...UTC played the back nine first today...Robb and Forsslund both played the nine at level par...Robb triple bogeyed the opening hole (10) before playing the remaining eight holes at -3.

>Chattanooga played the five Par 5s at -10 on its counting scores...Robb birdied all four par fives, while Forsslund birdied three of the four.

>Robb posted a team-best six birdies...The six birdies are a season high...He now has four or more birdies in each of his last four rounds - 19 over that span...Fourth straight par or better round.

>Forsslund's 72 is a career low in an event as a team member...He is now three for three in counting rounds...Four birdies is a collegiate career best.

>Eagles (Counters by Rounds):  0 (0/-/-). 

>Birdies (Counters by Rounds):  14 (14/-/-).  Robb 6 (6/-/-), Forsslund 4 (4/-/-), Fox 3 (3/-/-), Jaeger 1 (1/-/-), Bunn 0 (0/-/-).

>Pars (Counters by Rounds):  41 (41/-/-). Jaeger 13 (13/-/-), Fox 11 (11/-/-), Bunn 10 (10/-/-), Forsslund 9 (9/-/-), Robb 8 (8/-/-).