University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Tied For First In C-USA Golf Tourney
4/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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Eagles Tied For First In C-USA Golf Tourney
NAVARRE, Fla. -- The Southern Miss men's golf team sits atop the leaderboard after the first round of the 54-hole Conference USA Men's Golf Championship being played at The Club at Hidden Creek here Monday. The Golden Eagles' three-over-par 291 total matches TCU in first place.
Seventeen players were at par or better following the first round with TCU's Bret Guetz leading that group with a six-under-par 66. Southern Miss' Jake Pasch recorded the best Golden Eagle round of the day, a two-under-par 70. Other Golden Eagle players and their scores include Matt Wofford at 73, Tim Yelverton and Shane Rushing both at 74 and Michael Soroka at 77.
Each team plays five players and counts the top four scores each day.
Charlotte (292) occupies third place, South Florida (293) is in fourth and Louisville (294) and Houston are tied for fifth. UAB (295), Tulane (298), East Carolina (299), Memphis (300), Cincinnati (300), DePaul (304), Marquette (305) and Saint Louis (306) round out the field after the first round.
Back to the individual side, in addition to Guetz' round, Tulane's Chris Weaver shot a 68, East Carolina's Jason Harris and Saint Louis' Evan Frederick shot 69s and a group of five players, including Pasch, stand at two-under-par 70.
Head Coach Steve Johnson, whose team had not played as well as he hoped in rounds leading up to the championship, was happy with his squad's position after one round. "I was real pleased with how we handled today's opening round, as a team," said Johnson. "I thought this was one of the better mental rounds they've played this year. Some of our individual scores weren't as good as I anticipated, but the mental focus throughout the round was as good as I've seen all year.
"The last three tournaments we had played prior to this event all were on courses we had not seen before and that makes a difference. It was good to get to a course that our players had seen quite a bit. We've got two players, Rushing and Wofford, who are from this area and they've both played here often. Pasch and Yelverton both have played in previous conference championships here and I think that familiarity with the course was a major plus for us."
The second round of the three-day event will be played Tuesday.
