Oct. 25, 2010

MEMPHIS - Louisiana Tech struggled during the first day of the Memphis Intercollegiate held at Colonial Country Club but the Bulldogs are still within striking range heading into Tuesday's final round.

Tech shot a two-round team total of 20-over-par 596 and is tied with Tulsa for sixth place in the 15-team tournament.

Head coach Jeff Parks team trails first day leader Akron by 10 strokes and is only three strokes out of third place after an opening 36 holes that were played under soggy conditions.

"We left a lot of shots on the course," Parks said. "We have a chance tomorrow but we have a lot of ground to make up. We will go out and give it our all and see what happens."

Akron leads the event with a two-round total of 586 followed by South Alabama (590), Memphis (593), Arkansas State (593), Missouri (595), Tech (596), Tulsa (596), Mercer (597), UL-Lafayette (597), UALR (599), Iowa State (603), Southern Miss (605), Marshall (609), Wisconsin (614) and Army (629).

Junior Cody Santone was the only Bulldog that played consistent golf as he sits in a tie for fourth place after back-to-back rounds of even-par 72.

Cody Santone opened with a seven-over-par 79 but bounced back in the afternoon to shoot an even par 72 as he is tied for 32nd (151). Sam Forgan (75-77=152, T39th), Jonathan Bale (76-77-153, T46th), and Patrick Blunt (75-85=160, T71st) round out the Bulldog competitors.

Tomorrow's staggered start will start at 8 a.m. with the leaders beginning play around 10:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.