Men's golf begins Southland championship play Monday
4/25/2010 2:34:00 PM | Men's Golf
That is, the Kats will be attempting to unseat Lamar as Southland men's golf champions.
The Cardinals have won the last four men's titles and stand as the most decorated team in Southland men's golf history, Lamar has won the tournament 23 times, including seven of the last nine. They won the first 10 conference tournaments in from 1964-73. No other team has won the event more than three times.
Sam Houston's 2010 men's golf tournament squad will consist of Scott Kelly, Fergal Rafferty, Justin McKay, Beau Willis and Garrett Driver. Rafferty and Willis both are seniors and Kelly is a junior.
Kelly and Rafferty lead the Bearkats with stroke averages of 72.8 and 73.5, respectively.
Kelly has placed among the top 10 individual medalists in seven of Sam Houston's 10 tournaments this season. He has one tournament victory to his credit this season. Rafferty has been a top 10 finisher four times including a fourth place performance at the Texas Wesleyan Shootout.
McKay sports a 75.1 scoring average after at runner-up finish in Sam Houston's last outing in the Texas State tournament in Victoria. Driver owns a 75.3 average and Willis has produced a 77.0 scoring mean in five tournaments this year.
The Sam Houston men have finished among the top five teams in six of the 11 tournaments in which they have played. The Bearkats were team runners-up at Texas State's event in Victoria two weeks ago.
The Cardinals are led by Pierre-Alexis Rolland, who has a scoring average of 73.24 strokes in 11 tournaments this year.
Southeastern Louisiana, which enters the event as the Southland's top-ranked team according to the NCAA's national rankings. The Lions, who finished third in last year's conference tournament, are ranked 45th and will be playing on their home course.
Ten Southland universities field a men's golf team: Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington, UTSA and Texas State.
Live scoring for the 2010 Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship will be available at www.southland.org .
