Sept. 14, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Louisiana Tech golf team opened its fall season Monday under tough conditions as head coach Jeff Parks and the Bulldogs tackled not only a difficult course at Hattiesburg Country Club but Mother Nature.
LA Tech and the other 14 teams playing in the Sam Hall Intercollegiate hosted by Southern Mississippi saw plenty of the wet stuff during a long day that included one delay and plenty of rain.
"It was wet," Parks said. "It was wet when we got here and it was wet when we left. The guys gave it all they had today and they tried hard. We just have to get a little better."
The second round was suspended late Monday evening due to darkness as the teams will continue play Tuesday morning and then complete the third and final round during the afternoon.
Tech sits in 11th place after the first 18 holes after shooting a team total of seven-over-par 291, 14 strokes behind the leader Memphis which shot seven-under-par 277. Arkansas State and UALR are tied for second at 281, followed by Southeastern Louisiana, UL-Lafayette, Kennesaw State, Southern Miss, New Orleans, Miss State, Jacksonville State, La Tech, Murray State, Austin Peay, Troy and Winthrop.
Matthew Harvey led the Bulldogs with a one-under-par 70 as he sits in a tie for 11th place after the first round followed by Joel Thelen (71, T23rd), Cody Santone (73, T45th), Clinton Sheppard (77, T70th) and Hayden Stephens (79, T81st).
"Everyone was playing in the rain," Parks said. "The conditions were tough on everyone. Joel and Matthew played really well in the first round. Cody played well. We're going to take this and go out tomorrow and try to improve. See if we can get better."
