April 14, 2008

The wind was the winner on Monday during the opening round of the Southland Conference championship golf tournament being played at Gray Plantation at Lake Charles.

No player broke par on the 7,100 yard course and only four players shot even par as winds hit the 30 to 35 mile per hour range in gusts throughout the day.

Sam Houston State came out on top in the team totals by a shot over defending champion Lamar while four players - Eddie Brescher of Southeastern Louisiana, Hughes Joannes of Lamar, Zack Reeves of Texas-Arlington and Corey Roberson of Texas State - shot even par and shared the 18 hole lead.

Sam Houston, which is being coached this spring by former coach and athletic director Ronnie Choate, posted a 297 score while Lamar was at 298 and Texas State at 300. Southeastern Louisiana shot 301, Texas-Arllington 302, Central Arkansas and UT San Antonio 308, Nicholls State 310 and Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State 313.

The tournament continues Tuesday with another 18 hole round and will conclude on Wednesday with the final 18. More cool weather - in the 40s in the morning - is expected on Tuesday but the winds are predicted to die down some.

Choate, who came out of retirement to help out this spring when the Sam Houston golf coach resigned, said that adjusting to the wind was the big thing for the players on Monday.

"Making the adjustments into that wind was the main factor. Today we had some players who did a pretty good job of that," he said.

He was the golf coach of the last Sam Houston State team to win the league title, that coming in 1994.

Scott Kelly led the Bearkats with a one over 73 and the Bearkats also added a 74 and two 75s. Lamar had the even par from Joannes and a 73 from Casey Clendenon but also had a 76 and a 77.

Other players at one over par 73 were Matt Carvell of Southeastern Louisiana and Marty Reed of Nicholls State while among those at 74 was McNeese State's Sigmundur Masson.

The Cowboy senior went out in 38 but then came back in in even par 36.

The other members of the McNeese team had trouble either going out or coming in. Three players produced numbers in the 40s for the front nine and one was in the 40s on the back nine.

Freshman David Wiggins and junior Cory Vincent finished at 79 while junior Brandon Eaton had an 81 and junior Justin Ougel an 85.

TEAM TOTALS

1 Sam Houston St. U. 297

2 Lamar 298

3 Texas State 300

4 Southeastern La. 301

5 Texas-Arlington 302

6T Central Arkansas 308

6T Texas-San Antonio 308

8 Nicholls State 310

T9 Stephen F. Austin 313

T9 McNeese State 313

INDIVIDUAL TOTALS

T1 - Eddie Brescher III Southeastern La. U. 72

T1 - Hugues Joannes Lamar University 72

T1 - Zack Reeves Texas-Arlington 72

T1 - Corey Roberson Texas State University 72

T5 - Matt Carvell Southeastern La. U. 73

T5 - Casey Clendenon Lamar University 73

T5 - Scott Kelly Sam Houston St. U. 73

T5 - Marty Reed Nicholls State Univ. 73

T9 - Michael Carnes Texas State University 74

T9 - Brandon Frankhouser Sam Houston St. U. 74

T9 - Sigmundur Masson Mc Neese State Univ. 74

T12 - Parham Booker Nicholls State Univ. 75

T12 - Scotty Campbell Central Arkansas 75

T12 - Kevin Carrigan Texas-Arlington 75

T12 - Scooter Jefferson Sam Houston St. U. 75

T12 - Thomas Kearney Texas-San Antonio 75

T12 - Gideon Pienaar Central Arkansas 75

T12 - Fergal Rafferty Sam Houston St. U. 75

T19 - Russell Helson Lamar University 76

T19 - Bobby Massa Texas-Arlington 76

T19 - Simon Merry Texas-San Antonio 76

T19 - Michael Smith Stephen F. Austin St 76

T23 - Tyler Barnes-Wolf Texas State University 77

T23 - Graham Benson Southeastern La. U. 77

T23 - Justin Harding Lamar University 77

T23 - Nick Olivarri Texas-San Antonio 77

T23 - Oscar Zetterwall Texas State University 77

28 - Kyle Robbins Stephen F. Austin St 78

T29 - Rasmus Astrand Southeastern La. U. 79

T29 - Zack Fischer Texas-Arlington 79

T29 - John Hillard Central Arkansas 79

T29 - Jad Sinclair Central Arkansas 79

T29 - Cory Vincent Mc Neese State Univ. 79

T29 - David Wiggins Mc Neese State Univ. 79

T29 - Rick Wilkenfeld Stephen F. Austin St 79

T36 - Shane Costelloe Texas-San Antonio 80

T36 - Cedric Scotto Southeastern La. U. 80

T36 - Clay Shovan Nicholls State Univ. 80

T36 - Jacob Taylor Stephen F. Austin St 80

T36 - Michael Van de Venter Texas-Arlington 80

T41 - Brandon Eaton Mc Neese State Univ. 81

T41 - Steven Lecuyer Central Arkansas 81

T43 - Philip Krebsbach Texas State University 82

T43 - James Terrebonne Nicholls State Univ. 82

T45 - Stewart Bannatyne Sam Houston St. U. 83

T45 - Matt Oates Stephen F. Austin St 83

47 - Leroux Ferriera Lamar University 84

T48 - Phillip Hui Texas-San Antonio 85

T48 - Justin Ougel Mc Neese State Univ. 85

T48 - Eben Van der Walt Nicholls State Univ. 85