GLENCOE, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin golf team fought very rainy and cold conditions in the opening round of the Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate to card a 31-over-par 319, which was good enough for eighth place after day one. The Skyhawks were led by Jonathan Martin and Gragham Sleigh who took very different roads to both card rounds of 6-over-par 78.

The 2010 Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate is a 36-hole stroke play tournament conducted by Jacksonville State University and hosted on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Silver Lakes in Glencoe, Ala. The 60-player field is made up of 10 teams, including five Ohio Valley Conference members, and 10 participants competing as individuals. The par 72 Silver Lakes Golf Course is playing at 6,949 yards.

Sleigh opened his first round by making the turn at even-par before running into trouble on the back nine to finish at 6-over-par 78. In contrast Martin struggled to start his round and found himself six over after only five holes. He then finished the day in even -par fashion to join Sleigh in a tie for 18th position in the individual competition. Sam Hinson sits three strokes back at 9-over-par 81, while Bailey Childress and Brent Webb carded rounds of 10-over-par 82 and 11-over-par 83 respectively.

"This was one of the top five nastiest days I have ever seen on a golf course," said UT Martin head coach Jerry Carpenter. "Any score under 80 should be considered a good round out there today. I'm not disappointed with where we are but as a team we could have been even better because we threw away about 10 strokes on putting alone. Graham and Jonathan both played really well though, which was nice to see."

The Skyhawks also had two individual competitors in the field, with Taylor Deming leading the way in a tie with Hinson for 34th position at 9-over-par 81. Ryan DuLaney rounded out the scoring for the Skyhawks with a 14-over-par 86.

In the team competition St. John's leads the way at 8-over-par 296 and holds a one stroke lead over second place Jacksonville State at 9-over-par 297. SIU Edwardsville rounds out the top three at 15-over-par 303.

"I will be very surprised if we do not have a better round tomorrow," added Carpenter. "With the conditions getting better we should be able to take advantage of some holes we weren't able to today and hopefully avoid some of the trouble spots."

In the individual medalist competition only two competitors fired rounds in the red numbers. St. John's Mike Ballo, Jr. leads at 2-under-par 70, while Gonzalo Berlin sits one shot back in second at 1-under-par 71. Rounding out the top three is Sam Ryder of Stetson with a 1-over-par 73 in the opening round.

The Skyhawks will conclude play at the Grub Mart-Young Oil Intercollegiate with tomorrow's final round. In the final round UT Martin will tee off the No. 10 tee beginning at 8:20 a.m. and will be paired with Morehead State and Tennessee Tech.