Feb. 22, 2011

Rice Intercollegiate Results

HOUSTON - Louisiana Tech shaved nine strokes off its team score from Monday's first rounds as the Bulldog golfers shot a one-over-par 289 during Tuesday's final 18 to finish tied for 12th at the Rice Intercollegiate hosted at Westwood Golf Course.

Freshman Jack Lempke shot a final round two-under-par 70 while Sam Forgan shot a one-under-par 71 to pace the Bulldogs Tuesday as head coach Jeff Parks said that although it wasn't the start his team wanted, it was one it could use to move forward.

"There is no quit in them," Parks said. "They kept grinding. They gave it their all. We didn't get off to the start we wanted, but we learned a lot this week and can build on this. Yesterday we put the ball in some spots where we couldn't' get it up and down.

"We also took some time to get accustom to the greens; they were different than Squire Creek's. It took time to adjust. We were timid on the greens and missed some putts we should have made. It's all a learning experience."

Forgan led the Bulldogs in the tournament, finishing tied for 11th with a three-round total of even-par 216 (71-74-71) while Lempke finished tied for 37th with a 221 (78-73-70) after getting off to a tough start in Monday's first round.

"Sam played well and had a good tournament," Parks said. "Jack came back with a 70 today for lowest round of the tournament for us. He showed some toughness after his start."

Clinton Shepard tied for 51st with a 223 (75-75-73) while Jonathan Bale finished tied for 58th with a 226 (75-76-75). Freshman Travis Wilmore finished 71st with a 231 (76-79-76).

New Mexico State won the event with an 11-under-par 583 while Aggies Gaston De La Torre took home the individual honors with a nine-under 207.

The Bulldogs will return to action March 13-15 when they host the Bulldog Classic at Squire Creek Country Club.