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Final Results

RUSTON -- The back nine of Squire Creek Golf Course was unkind during Monday's first two rounds of the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate if you were a Louisiana Tech golfer.

However, on Tuesday, head coach Jeff Jenkins saw his young team respond to the back-nine demons. After combining to shoot 23-over-par as a team on the final nine holes during the first two rounds of the 13-team event, Tech retaliated Tuesday, shooting six-under-par on the final nine holes to finish at even par (288) for the round and in a tie for seventh place with C-USA foe WKU.

Although Jenkins would have obviously preferred a higher finish in the opening event of the year, the second-year Bulldog boss knows his team made some positive strides on Tuesday.

"We were far from perfect, but we definitely played better (than yesterday)," Jenkins said. "We have a lot of young guys and even some of our more experienced players aren't accustomed to being looked at as leaders. Victor Lange really held that role during the last few years and now it's time for some of these other guys to step into that role.

"This was a good first tournament for us as a team as far as gaining valuable experience. I thought Felix (Palson) and Joacim (Ahlund) both played well for their first collegiate tournament as did Karsten Green. All nine guys had moments and stretches where they played well. We just have to take what we learned and move forward. We will really step up in competition when we travel to New Mexico this weekend to compete against some of the top teams in the country."

Paulson led the Bulldogs on Tuesday, firing a two-under-par 70 as his round included five birdies, 10 pars and three bogeys. He tied for 19th place with a three-round total of three-over-par 219. Freshman Swedish teammate Ahlund wasn't quite as sharp as Monday, but still finished tied for 29th with a 221, including Tuesday's final round of 76.

Sophomore Luke Neely rebounded from a tough two rounds on Monday, shooting even-par 72 on Tuesday in a round that included five birdies. Hunter Glenn and John Lewis Sams both fired 73's on Tuesday. Sams was four-over-par through 10 holes before registering four birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine.

Tech had four individuals compete in the tournament as well, led by Hayden Frederick's three-round total of 222.

ULM captured the team title, shooting a 54-hole total of seven-under-par 857 as all five golfers finished in the top 20 of the individual standings. Lamar's Zander Gous won the team title with a nine-under-par 207 which included an opening round and tournament low round of 64.