Mens Golf leads by 6 after first round
4/23/2018 9:23:00 PM | Men's Golf
McKINNEY – With 18 holes in the books, the Sam Houston men's golf team leads the Southland Conference Golf Championships after a 289 team score.
The Kats will take a six shot lead into Tuesday after shooting 1-over in the opening round.
“It was a great start to the event,” said head coach Brandt Kieschnick. “We had a great game plan and executed it really well the first 14 holes and just made a few mistakes coming in. Our team came out with focus and intent to compete well.”
All five golfers were at 4-over par or better, with Noah Steele leading the way after an opening round 68. The sophomore from Kingston, Ontario, Canada, sits in first for the medalist honor thanks to back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven and his play on the par 4s. He shot four-under for the first round and averaged a 3.70 on the day on par 4 holes, going three-under. He has a three-stroke lead over McNeese's Ian Berrigan (71) and Central Arkansas' Lewis George (71).
“Noah led us today with great management and ball control around this golf course,” Kieschnick said. “He kept his round together well and was huge for us at the end of the day.”
The Kats have four golfers in the top 10, and all five are in the top 13 of the 55 player field. Austen Christiansen and Levi Valadez each shot a 73 and are tied for fifth. Jake McCrory was cruising through 14 holes, and was 1-under. But he gave up four shots on the last four holes and is ninth at 3-over par. William Holcomb also dropped three strokes on the final four holes and sits in 13th at 4-over.
In all, the Kats dropped 15 strokes on the final four holes. They still lead McNeese by six shots and SFA by 18. That will be the grouping for the Bearkats for Tuesday's second round of three.
“We've played really good this year and today was an extension of the whole year of continuing to do the right things that lead to under par rounds and contention,” Kieschnick said. “This is a tough golf course and we were under-par most the day so I'm proud of our guys executing well. We were trying to win the day today and we will continue the same game plan each day for this golf course.”
