WEST POINT, Miss. - Brooks Rabren carded an even-par 72 Monday at the 7,088-yard Old Waverly Golf Club, pacing the University of South Alabama men's golf team on the opening day of the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship.
The sophomore is tied for 20th through the first round of the tournament, which was shortened to just 36 holes. Rabren shot even-par throughout the back nine. After the turn, he recorded a bogey on the par-4, 408-yard hole before shooting two consecutive birdies on the par-4 fifth and sixth holes. Rabren would end the round even par after one last bogey on the par-3, 205-yard seventh hole to lead the Jaguars with a 72.
"Brooks fought an up-and down round with a few scrambling pars," head men's golf coach Alex Hamilton said. "Our low round today today was his even par and I thought there were some pretty good scores out there today. We're looking for a little more out of the guys tomorrow."
After recording a team score of 298, the Jaguars are tied for 13th with Memphis and Louisiana-Lafayette. South Florida and Kennesaw State lead the field after day one with a 5-under-par 283.
Two individuals - Dawson Armstrong of Lipscomb University and Chris Guglielmo of Kennesaw State - are tied for first with 7-under-par 65 scores in the first round. The duo have a four-stroke advantage over the six individuals tied for third with 3-under-par 69s.
Rasmus Karlsson and Jason Mendel both carded 3-over-par 79s to end the round tied for 47th. Karlsson recorded three birdies, but he ran into bogey trouble on the front nine towards the end of the day.
The freshman recorded one bogey on the par-3 12th hole to stay even on the back, but a double and triple bogey on the par-4 sixth and eighth holes, respectively, put him 3-over par. Mendel carded two birdies on the par-4, 444-yard 11th hole and par-4, 388-yard 14th hole to start the round, but five bogeys put the junior at a 75.
"Rasmus was 1-under-par with four holes to play and kind of struggled coming in," Hamilton said. "Mendel wasn't able to really get anything going."
Yannick Schuetz stands tied for 64th after carding a 4-over-par 76. Schuetz recorded three birdies - one on the 5-par, 543-yard 10th hole to start the round and two on the front nine. The freshman's four bogeys and triple bogey put him 4-over par to end the day,
Peter Staalbo's 12-over-par 84 lands him in 83rd after recording three bogeys, a triple bogey and a double bogey on the back nine, in addition to four more bogeys after the turn.
"Hopefully tomorrow is a much better day for us," head men's golf coach Alex Hamilton said. "The guys had a decent attitude today, their games were just not there for us today. We'll hopefully put something together tomorrow and have Yannick and Peter bounce back a little bit."
The Jaguars will tee off in the second and final round paired with Rice, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. Live stats will be available at golfstat.com.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.
—USA—
Old Waverly Collegiate Championship
Old Waverly Golf Club, West Point, Miss.
Par 72, 7,088-yard
Team Scores: T1) South Florida 283 (-5); T1) Kennesaw State 283 (-5); 3) Lipscomb University 284 (-4); T4) Mississippi State 289 (+1); T4) Chattanooga 289 (+1); 6) Cincinnati 290 (+2); 7) Ole Miss 291 (+3); T8) McNeese State 293 (+5); T8) Kansas State 293 (+5); 10) Southern Mississippi 295 (+7); 11) Louisiana Tech 296 (+8); 12) Rice 297 (+9); T13) Louisiana-Lafayette 298 (+10); T13) South Alabama 298 (+10); T13) Memphis 298 (+10); 16) Southeastern Louisiana 299 (+11)
Individual Leaders: T1) Dawson Armstrong, Lipscomb 65 (-7); T1) Chris Gulielmo, Kennesaw State 65 (-7); T3) Five individuals with 69 (-3); 8) Brooks Thomas, Chattanooga 70 (-2); T9) 11 individuals with 71 (-1)
South Alabama Scores: T10) Brooks Rabren 72 (E); T47) Rasmus Karlsson 75 (+3); T47) Jason Mendel 75 (+3); T64) Yannick Schuetz 76 (+6); 83) Peter Staalbo 84 (+12);
