Ragin’ Cajuns Golf Posts Strong Start At Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational

PRINCEVILLE, Hawaii – After slow starts in the first three tournaments this season, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns golf team carded a strong opening round of 1-under par (287) on Sunday at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational to finish in a tie for fourth at the par-72, 7,223-yard Princeville Makai Golf Club.

"Really proud of the team responding to a little team meeting last night where we chatted about getting off to a better start at tournament," head coach Theo Sliman said. "We got off to a great start today. It was the best start that we have had so far this season."

The Cajuns finished the first round tied with Sam Houston State for fourth and are four strokes back of No. 24 Missouri for third place. No. 25 Ole Miss leads the field with an 18-hole score of 11-under (277). Georgia Southern rounds out the top 5 teams in second with a score of 6-udner (282).

ETSU's Mateusz Gradecki sits atop the individual leaderboard after carding a score of 7-under (65).

Sophomore Triston Elston paced Louisiana on day one with a score of 70 (-2) to finish in a tie for 14th. Elston recorded seven birdies on the day including four in his last eight holes.

Ragnar Gardarsson is one stroke back of Elston in a tie for 16th at 1-under (71), while Aron Juliusson and Fernando Cruz Valle sit just outside the top 25 in a tie for 29th with a score of 1-over (73).

Freshman Jack Tolson wrapped up the scoring for the Ragin' Cajuns on the first day in a tie for 74th at 5-over (77).

Louisiana is paired with Ole Miss, Georgia Southern and Missouri for the second round. Play gets underway at 1 p.m. CT with a shotgun start. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.

"The team played with purpose and within themselves today," Sliman said. "We are only a third of the way through the tournament, so there is still a lot of work to do. There were a couple mishaps down the stretch kept us from having a really low round, but still I am pleased with the effort from the team today. We need to carry over the momentum from today's round into tomorrow."

For updates and info on Ragin' Cajuns golf, follow the team on twitter @CajunGolf or check RaginCajuns.com.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Ragin’ Cajuns Golf Posts Strong Start At Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational

Players Mentioned

Fernando Cruz Valle

Triston Elston

Ragnar Gardarsson

Aron Juliusson

Jack Tolson

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