Price, Pioneers Take First Day Lead At King Invitational; TU Breaks Scoring Record With 271

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Tusculum University men’s golf team shot a school-record score of 271 to take the first day lead at the 2025 King Invitational, which is being held at the Golf Club of Bristol.

Tusculum sophomore Harrison Price led the charge with his five-under par 65 to establish a career-low and leads after 18 holes of play. His 65 is tied for the second-lowest round in program history.

The Pioneers have three golfers in the top three including Price and the duo of Ed Linley and Fraser Laird who each carded a three-under par 67 and are tied for third place.

Price has a one-shot lead over Adrian Ronn of Young Harris as he posted a four-under par 66.

Tusculum has a five-stroke advantage over second place Young Harris as the Mountain Lions shot 276. West Chester and host King are tied for third place with 278. North Greenville is fifth with 289, followed by UVA Wise (292), Lenoir-Rhyne B (298), Lenoir-Rhyne C (299), Belmont Abbey C (299), Ferrum (300), King B (301) and Belmont Abbey B (301).

Price opened his day with a par and a bogey to stand at one-over after two holes. He bounced back by shooting six-under par for his next 13 holes. He would bogey No. 14, but bounced back with a birdie on the 17^th hole. A par on the 18^th hole sent him home with a 65, just two shots off the record set by Brad Hawkins at the 2015 Pioneer Classic. Price becomes only the third player to shoot 65 at Tusculum, joining Brent Dyson (2002 Patton Intercollegiate) and Jeffery Perez (2019 Mars Hill Fall Invitational).

Linley opened the day shooting a smooth 33 for his outward nine holes which included two birdies and seven pars. He got to three-under par with his birdie on the 10^th, but dropped a shot with a bogey on No. 11. He bounced back with birdies on No. 12 and No. 14 to get to four-under par. He would bogey the 17^th hole before finishing with a par to post a 67.

Laird bounced back from a sluggish start as he bogeyed the first two holes. He would not have a blemish on his scorecard for the remainder of the round which included five birdies and 11 pars including five in a row to close out the day and shoot 67.

Tusculum’s George Evans is tied for 19^th place with a 72 while Matthew Hogan is tied for 30^th place with 74.

Tusculum’s 271 breaks the previous school mark of 273 set at last year’s opening round of the King Invitational. TU also shot 273 at the 2015 Pioneer Classic.

The final round will be conducted on Tuesday on the par-70, 6,474-yard layout. Tusculum will be in quest of its fourth consecutive King Invitational team title. TU shared the team crown with the host Tornado at last year’s event.

Team Results (Thru 1^st Round)

Tusculum Individual Scores