DADE CITY, Fla. – Senior Erik Barnes, of the Austin Peay men's golf team, sits three strokes off the lead after first-round action at the USF Invitational, played Friday at Lake Jovita Golf Club.

A two-hour frost delay backed up the scheduled 7:30 a.m., tee times, and later led to a darkness postponement leaving a handful of teams and players short of completion.

North Florida leads the field with a two-under par, 286, while Middle Tennessee, Florida Southern and Campbell are all tied for second after firing even par at 288. Arkansas State is fifth (+1/289) while Ohio Valley Conference member Jacksonville State is sixth (+2/290).

The Govs, meanwhile, are in 22nd with a 14-over par 302. Barnes leads the way after a one-under par 71, followed by senior Brian Balthrop and sophomore Drew Miller who each shot 76. Junior Luke Sherrod shot a 79 while freshman Dustin Korte struggled to an 81.

“We seemed to struggle with our putting,” head coach Kirk Kayden said. “The greens are hard and fast, which led to a lot of three putts today. We really struggled around the greens.”

Barnes made an eagle on No. 11, a down hill par-5, after putting his second shot on the green and finishing with a 15-foot eagle putt. Miller's round can be attributed to a birdie-birdie start on his first two holes, while Balthrop finished strong, playing the final five holes at two-under par.

“There are some things you can look and see that we're getting closer,” Kayden said, “but there are also some things you can look at see that we're not quite there yet. We saw some benefits of being outside last week. We're not close to where we were last year, but we're at least moving in the right direction.”

First-round play continues with 7:30 a.m., Saturday, tee times and will lead directly into second-round action.

-AP-