November 14, 1997
Texas A&M sophomore Lee Reed of Rigby, Idaho fired a 5- under-par 67 Friday and shares the first round lead at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational.
Reed carded a one-under-par 35 on the first nine then closed with a flurry of birdies to card a four-under-par 32 on the back nine on the 6,651-yard, Par 72 Arthur Hills Course.
As a team, No. 30-ranked A&M is tied for seventh place in the 18-team field with an opening round of 4-under-par 284, the Aggies' lowest round of the year and their best since a 279 in the second round of the 1996 Red River Classic in Dallas. Reed's round tied his career best that he carded at the Louisiana Classics March 11 in Lafayette, La.
Play continues with 18 holes on Saturday and the final 18 holes on Sunday.
Reed shares the first round lead with UNLV's Bill Lunde, Arizona's Andy Barnes and Tim Weiss and East Tennessee State's David Christensen. A group of five players are one stroke off the pace.
No. 9-ranked Clemson fired an opening round of 279 and owns a one stroke lead over No. 11 UNLV. No. 6 TCU and No. 1 Arizona are tied for third at 281, followed by No. 16 East Tennessee State at 282 and No. 25 Arizona State at 283. A&M is tied with No. 20 North Carolina. The only other Big 12 Conference school in the field is No. 2 Oklahoma State, which is tied for 10th with an opening 286.
Other A&M scores were junior Ty Cox (Amarillo) at 34-38=72, freshman Clay Fullick (Baytown) at 36-36=72, senior Miguel del Angel (McAllen) at 38-35=73 and freshman Ryan Tull (Georgetown) at 36-39=75.