Feb. 20, 2012

Results

HOUSTON - Senior Cody Blankenship shot a 36-hole total of even par 144 to lead Louisiana Tech in the first day of the 2012 Rice Intercollegiate held at Westwood Golf Club Monday.

The Bulldogs are tied with 37th ranked Wichita State for fourth place out of 15 teams at seven-over-par 583 while Northwestern leads the team competition at 576.

"All in all, we have a shot at winning tomorrow only seven strokes back," said Tech head coach Jeff Parks. "We have to play well but we are going to have to play well to win anyway. It's very doable."

Blankenship, who is only a year removed from having a steel plate inserted into his arm after a snowboarding accident, shot back-to-back rounds of even-par 72 and currently sits in a tie for 7th place out of 81 competitors.

"Cody played really solid today," said Parks. "He putted really well. He seemed like he was comfortable and confident. He had his mind in a good spot and he didn't let things frustrate him."

Sam Forgan fired back-to-back rounds of one-over 73 and is currently tied for 19th place while Jack Lempke shot a one-under-par 71 in the morning and a four-over-par 76 in the afternoon. Lempke is tied for 27th.

Jonathan Bale bounced back from a five-over-par 77 in the morning to shoot an even-par 72 and is tied for 38th while Travis Wilmore shot a pair of 75s and is tied for 46th.

Northwestern leads the team competition with a 576 followed by Florida Gulf Coast (579), Houston (582), LA Tech (583), Wichita State (583), UTSA (585), UL-Monroe (585), Winthrop (591), Texas State (592), Kansas State (592), Air Force (596), New Mexico State (597), Missouri State (598), Rice (599) and Houston Baptist (601).

The 54-hole event will conclude Tuesday with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.