April 20, 2008

TEXARKANA, Ark. - The Marshall University men's golf team carded a 19-over 307 on day one of the Conference USA Championship on Sunday. The 11-team, 54-hole tournament is being played at the par-72, 6,935-yard Texarkana Country Club.

Marshall senior Trent Schambach paced the Thundering Herd through 18 holes with his 2-over 74 on Sunday for a tie in 32nd place. The Glen Dale, W.Va., native collected birdies on holes 15-17 before finishing the round with a par on No. 18. A double bogey on the 13th hole, a par-3, preceded Schambach's strong finish on day one.

Herd sophomore Christian Brand (t-43rd) fired a 4-over 76 in the opening round. Brand, who finished in 12th place at last season's conference tournament, rebounded nicely from three straight bogeys on holes two through four with birdies in three of his last four holes before the turn.

MU senior Jonathan Pepe (t-49th) shot a 6-over 78 in his final C-USA Championship.

Memphis leads the event with an 11-under 277, five strokes ahead of second place Houston (282). The Tigers have two players among the six-way tie for first place with an opening-round 68.

The Herd is in 11th place, 10 strokes behind 10th place UTEP (297).

The second round will begin at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday. Live scoring of the event is available at www.golfstat.com.

Marshall (18-hole total): 307

Marshall Team Score (18-hole total): Trent Schambach 74, Christian Brand 76, Jonathan Pepe 78, Nathan Kinker 79, Josh Boswell 81