No. 15 Texas A&M leads SEC Men's Golf Championship

St. Simons Island, GA - No. 15 Texas A&M shot an 11-under 269 to take the lead following the first day of play of the SEC Men's Golf Championship Wednesday at the par-70, 7,005-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club.

"The guys were ready to go from the start. They were ready to go when the week started. They got off to a really nice start on the first nine holes we played. The golf course had some teeth, the greens were pretty fast and firm, so they did a great job managing the golf course," said head coach of the Aggies, Brian Kortan.

Texas A&M leads by one shot over No. 17 Alabama (270). No. 8 Auburn sits in third place as they shoot a nine-under, 271.

No. 13 Tennessee's Caleb Surratt and Alabama's Thomas Ponder each shot a six-under 64 to tie for first place in the individual standing after Round One. Surratt made six birdies and an eagle to shoot a 64, including a 31 on his first nine holes of the day. Ponder carded a career best which included his first-ever hole-in-one hitting a 7-iron from 176 yards out on the 17th hole. Surratt and Ponder's 6-under 64 on Wednesday is tied for the lowest ever first round by an individual at the SEC Championships.

Sam Bennett of Texas A&M sits in third place with a 5-under 65 which included three birdies in his last six holes.

The opening three rounds of the SEC Men's Golf Championship will consist of stroke play followed by match play on Saturday and Sunday. The championship match on Sunday will be televised live on SEC Network. The semifinals on Saturday will be available live on SECN+.

The second round of the SEC Championship will begin Thursday at 8 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available at SECSports.com and golfstat.com.