Sept. 21, 2010
Results
FT. Worth, Texas - The Louisiana Tech Bulldog golfers finished strong Tuesday firing the second lowest team round of the day to finish third in the 18-team field at the 2010 UTA/Waterchase Invitational hosted by Texas-Arlington at Waterchase Golf Course.
After sitting in a three-way tie for 10th after the first 18 holes of the tournament Monday morning, the Bulldogs shot back-to-back rounds of two-under-par (286) to move up seven spots and record their second straight top 4 finish in as many weekends.
"It was windy today, and the pins were set up in some tough locations," Parks said. "I am pleased but we still have a long way to go. North Texas is good but getting beat by 23 strokes is tough. I want to win. Hopefully we can play well at home (in our next tournament). We have a lot to learn. We need to learn to make good decisions when we play. We will continue to get better and better. I am excited and happy about the way we played, especially how we finished today."
Tech's final round 286 was the second best of the day, one shot off the pace of Sam Houston State, as the Bulldogs jumped two spots over the final 18 holes to record its best finish since winning the Hal Sutton Intercollegiate in 2007.
Hayden Stephens led the Tech charge on Tuesday, firing a three-under-par 69 followed by Jack Lempke's 71, Clinton Shepard's 72, Cody Santone's 74 and Sam Forgan's 76. "This was a team effort," said Parks. "Perseverence. Both Hayden and Jack didn't play well (Monday) but came back today and shot under par. That's determination. It was good to see."
Shepard finished tied for seventh in the tournament out of 100 competitors with a three-round total of 214, followed by Santone (T18th, 218), Forgan (T30th, 220), Stephens (T43rd, 222), and Lempke (T43rd, 222).
North Texas ran away with the team title shooting a team-total of 844, 21 strokes better than second-place Southern Miss (865) who edged the Bulldogs (866) by one stroke. Sam Houston State (867) finished fourth followed by UT-Arlington (869), Santa Clara (872), UT-Arlington B Team (872), Rice (874), Texas State (877), Texas Wesleyan (880), Central Arkansas (880), Wichita State (882), Nicholls State (890), Stephen F. Austin (895), Southern Illinois (902), UTSA (904), Houston Baptist (913), McNeese State (915) and Texas Pan American (921).
The Bulldogs will return to competition on Oct. 4-5 when they host the Squire Creek Invitational at Squire Creek Golf Course in Choudrant.
Tech will host its College Am on Sunday, Oct. 3 starting at 1:30 p.m. The four-man scramble cost $200 per player as teams will be paired up with college players from the participating teams. Anyone interested in playing interested individuals can contact Parks at 245-8211.
