Sam Houston begins title defense Monday
4/19/2015 8:05:00 AM | Men's Golf
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
The Sam Houston men's golf team begins the defense of its league championship Monday morning as play begins in the 52nd annual Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney, Texas.
The event will take place on the par 72, 7,219-yard Pete Dye Signature Course in McKinney. The layout is where the Bearkat men fired a 54-hole total of 290-292-296—878 to earn their first Southland title since 1994. The championship is being held on the course for the fourth consecutive season.
The Kat quintet of Andrew Ertel, Jake McCrory, Logan Boatner, J. T. Taylor and Zach Cabra will tee off Monday morning from 9:45 to 10:21 a.m. Sam Houston will be playing in threesomes with McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana.
Cabra is the defending Southland Conference individual medalist champion. Last year Cabra finished six-under par with a scorecard of 69-69-72—210.
“This is the tournament we've been working towards all year long,” Sam Houston head coach Brandt Kieschnick said. “There are some outstanding teams in this conference. To win again, we have to be focused every day, every hole.”
The Bearkats, Lions and Cowboys are the favorites entering the tournament.
Sam Houston, looking to become the first Southland champion to repeat since Lamar did so from 2006-09, is the top-rated Southland team according to the Golfstat rankings, which are used to seed the teams in the opening round.
Cabra is the 74th-ranked player in the country and has won two individual titles this season with victories at the Harold Funston Intercollegiate and at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship. The Bearkats have won two tournament this season, defending its title at the Harold Funston Intercollegiate, Oct. 6-7, after winning the Badger Invitational hosted by Wisconsin, Sept. 28-30.
Southeastern Louisiana, which has won four league titles with its last in 2013, is the second-ranked team and has won one tournament this season. The Lions opened up its fall season with a win at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate hosted by Southern Miss, Sept. 8-9. In last year's tournament, the Lions shot the lowest round of the tournament in the final day, but its rally fell just short as Southeastern finished second.
McNeese State has won one tournament this season. The Cowboys have not won a Southland title since 1979.
Players will play 18 holes of golf Monday and Tuesday before playing the final round of 18 holes Wednesday. Eleven Southland universities field a men's golf team: Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, UIW, Lamar, McNeese State, New Orleans, Nicholls, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin.
Live scoring for the 2015 Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship will be available at www.southland.org/MGolf.
