Golf Sits In Third After Day One Of The Sam Hall Intercollegiate

Sam Hall Intercollegiate Leaderboard

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns golf team posted two rounds of par or better to find itself in third place after the first two rounds of the Sam Hall Intercollegiate at Hattiesburg Country Club on Monday.

After notching an opening round score of even par (284), the Cajuns did one better finishing the day with a score of 1-under (283) in the afternoon round to end the day at 1-under (567).

The Ragin' Cajuns are six strokes back of Southeastern Louisiana (-7, 561) for the lead. The Lions blazed the course in the second round tallying a score of 8-under (276) to move to the top of the leaderboard. Host Southern Miss (-3, 565), Louisiana (-1, 567), Sam Houston State (+2, 570) and Ole Miss (+2, 570) round out the top 5 teams heading into the final round.

"I am proud of the way the entire team played today," head coach Theo Sliman said. "We had all six guys post great scores in both rounds. When your worst score of the day is a 73 you are going to put yourself in a position to compete. We played our last six holes at 7-under as a team, which is something that I am very proud of. I have seen some great competition and depth from this group. That is going to make this a very good Division I team."

Both Haraldur Magnus and Louis Kelly find themselves in a tie for third place after 36 holes with a score of 3-under par (139). Magnus carded a team-best round of 68 in the first 18 holes, while Kelly was the only Cajuns golfer to post two sub-par rounds with a 70 and 69.

"The composure and maturity that Louis brings to this team was very evident today," Sliman added. "He had a chance to give in today after a self imposed penalty shot, but he kept his composure and finished out the day very strong.

"Haraldur picked up right off where he left off. His 68 to open the tournament was the exact same score he posted in his debut last year. Its always a good thing to have a couple golfers battling for not only a team title, but also an individual title headed into the final day of competition."

Casey Fernandez of Southern Miss leads the individual leaderboard at 8-under (134) after recording a 66 (-5) in the final round.

Fernando Cruz Valle finds himself just outside of the top 25 in a tie for 28th with a two-round score of 2-over (145). Thomas Strandemo sits on stroke back of Cruz Valle in a tie for 39th at 3-over (146), and Ross Davis rounds out the lineup with a 36-hole score of 4-over (147).

Freshman Paul San has looked good in his debut carding a score of 2-over (144) including an even par round to open the event. San finished the day in a tie for 28th as an individual.

"The goal for tomorrow is pretty simple," Sliman said. "We were in this position last year, and we have the experience to close out a tournament. This is the first tournament of a long season and we have some things to clean up, but I have plenty of confidence in this group to come out tomorrow and do what they need to do to put themselves in a position to come away victorious."

Louisiana is paired with Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Miss in the final round with play beginning at 8 a.m. Fans can follow the tournament live on Golfstat.com.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Golf Sits In Third After Day One Of The Sam Hall Intercollegiate

Related News

Related Videos

Footer