Oct. 13, 2008
Day One Results
RUSTON -- LSU and New Orleans shot team totals of nine-under-par 567 to lead after the first two rounds of the Squire Creek Invitational hosted by Louisiana Tech.
LSU's Jarrod Barsamian, playing as an individual at the event, shot seven-under-par 137 (68, 69) to lead by two strokes over UNO's Hector Arias in the individual competition.
The third and final round will begin Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Louisiana Tech got a strong performance from junior Matthew Harvey, who shot 71 and 70 to finish three-under-par 141. Harvey, the defending champion at the event, is currently tied for ninth place, four strokes behind the leader.
"I was really pleased with Matthew," said Tech head coach Jean Hall. "He hit some really good golf shots. He's starting to get back into the form we were used to seeing. We have to remember he's still recovering from surgery but we saw so many positive things today. He looked like his former self."
The Bulldogs shot rounds of 294 and 291 and currently sit in 12th place in the 16-team event with a team total of 585.
In addition to Harvey's performance, Tech received steady play from Corey Bartlett (73-74=147, T38th) and Amrith de Soysa (76-72=148, T47th). Clinton Shepard (74-78-152, 72nd) and Cody Santone (79-75-154, T79th) also figured into the team scores for the Bulldogs.
"I wasn't displeased with how we played," Hall said. "I thought we might play a little better, especially with the course knowledge of the greens. I thought we would take advantage of that but we didn't putt as well as we normally do here. We made some mistakes that kept us from playing better."
Ben Suarez (76-71=147), Jonathan Bale (77-72=149), Patrick Blunt (78-75=153), Timothy Byrd (76-79=155) and Ryan Robertson (82-76=158) all competed as individuals for LA Tech.
After an average morning by the players, the performances picked up significantly during the afternoon's second round as 35 players shot below par and another 11 shot even par.
The 16 teams shaved 115 total strokes off the morning totals, an average of over seven strokes per team. In all 14 of the 16 teams improved their team totals during afternoon play.
"It was some of the best scores we've ever seen out here in this tournament," Hall said. "There was just some unbelievable golf. It goes back to the quality of teams competing here. There are some outstanding players. It shows you that when you get quality players on a quality course, you will get some good scores."
LSU and UNO are being chased by Louisville (572), UL-Lafayette (574), Nevada (574), Mississippi (575), Southern Miss (575), Southeastern Louisiana (577), UALR (578), Arkansas State (581), Middle Tennessee (582), LA Tech (585), Nebraska (587), UT-Arlington (589), South Alabama (598) and UL-Monroe (604).
