MONTGOMERY, Texas – Louisiana Tech senior golfer Mac Murphy tied for second with a four-under 212 (71-71-70) at the Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invitational on Tuesday.
 
"My game overall felt good," M. Murphy said. "I was able to manage it nicely around the course. I'm disappointed I left a few out there, but nonetheless, it was a good week heading into the conference championship."
 
M. Murphy played his best round of the tournament on Tuesday after finishing the day with a two-under 70. He shot either at or under par on 16 of the 18 holes while registering birdies on holes one, four, eight and 16.
 
"Mac played very solid this week," head coach Matt Terry said. "It will be big for him to be playing well heading into the conference championship."
 
Tech finished the Bearkat Invitational strong as the Bulldogs registered their best round of the tournament with an even-par 288 on Tuesday. Senior Sam Murphy and sophomore Hunter Battles each recorded their second eagles of the tournament as Battles registered one on hole two and S. Murphy had his on hole 10. S. Murphy recorded back-to-back birdies on holes two and three and finished the round with a team-best five birdies for a two-under 70. Sophomore Lake Juban had a solid final round to finish the day with an even-par 72.
 
"It was a much better performance for our team overall today," Terry said. "However, we still need to clean up our big numbers as we had to count four doubles and a triple today. It was nice to see the team have a solid round before we compete in the C-USA Championship."
 
M. Murphy led LA Tech individually at the tournament with his -4 (71-71-70=212, T-2nd). S. Murphy also finished in the top 20 after tying for 20th with a +5 (76-75-70=221). Juban +11 (79-76-72=227, t-39th), junior James Swash +14 (77-77-76=230, t-48th) and Battles +22 (83-75-80=238, t-68th) rounded out Tech's scoring at the event. Freshman Will Patrick competed individually at the tournament to tie for 68th with a +22 (78-80-80=238).
 
UT Arlington won the Huntsville Toyota Bearkat Invitational with a -13 (288-285-278=851). Sam Houston -6 (291-287-280=858), Texas State +10 (297-290-287=874), Louisiana-Lafayette +12 (290-295-291=876) and Wichita State +14 (292-299-287=878) rounded out the top five team scores at the tournament. Louisiana Tech finish sixth at the tournament with a +24 (303-297-288=888).
 
The C-USA Championship will take place in Texarkana, Texas/Ark., from Monday, April 26, to Thursday, April 29.
 
Be sure to follow @LATechGolf on Twitter for all breaking news, in-match updates and other items of interest pertaining to the 2020-21 season.