SANDESTIN, Fla. – Rasmus Karlsson carded a 1-under-par 70 to lead the University of South Alabama men's golf team in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday.
Peter Staalbo added a 71 for the Jaguars while the three other members of the lineup shot a 74 on the first of three days of stroke-play competition at the event.
Coastal Carolina and Little Rock each posted a 6-under-par 278 to share the team lead after 18 holes, one shot in front of Georgia Southern. With a 290 group score the Jags will enter the second round nine strokes out of the final position to qualify for match play. Arkansas State's Luka Maglic fired a 5-under-par 66, one shot better than a trio of competitors for the individual lead at the end of the first day of play.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Sun Belt Conference Championship (Sun Belt Conference)
Date: 4/21
Course: Sandestin Golf Resort Raven Course (par 71, 6,767 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=17936
TEAM SCORES
1) Coastal Carolina 278 (-6); 2) Little Rock 278; 3) Georgia Southern 279; 4) Arkansas State 281; T5) Texas State 282; T5) UTA 282; T5) Georgia State 282; T5) ULM 282; 9) Troy 289; 10) South Alabama 290; 11) Louisiana 292; 12) Appalachian State 294.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Luka Naglic, A-State 66 (-5); T2) David Li, GSU 67; T2) Justin Warren, LR 67; T2) Wes Artac, CCU 67; T5) Guiillaume Fanonnel, ULM 68; T5) Logan Lockwood, TXST 68; T7) seven individuals with 69.
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T14) Rasmus Karlsson 70 (-1); T27) Peter Staalbo 72; T42) Yannick Schütz 74; T42) Jordan Plunkett 74; T42) Kyle Robinson 74.
TEE SHOTS
-The field includes 60 competitors from the league's 12 schools.
-Eleven of the team's 14 birdies came on the course's back nine, with Karlsson (-4), Staalbo (-3) and Kyle Robinson (-1) shooting below par after the turn.
-With four birdies apiece, Karlsson and Staalbo are tied for 12th in the field in the category.
-It's the third straight round that Karlsson has broken par on the course dating back to last spring — when he finished tied for third in the final individual standings — while it marked the seventh time this season he has recorded a score of par or better.
-All five Jaguars were below par on the venue's par-five holes, helping the team share the lead in the category with a 6 under total.
-South also tied for second among the 12 schools competing with 59 pars on the first day of play.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the first day of the tournament: "The conditions today were very scoreable, but we made a couple of big numbers early and kind of put ourselves in a hole. On the back nine the wind picked up a little, Rasmus and Peter really responded to keep us in it with a good round tomorrow."
On the approach for the second round of the event: "Tomorrow is important, the guys know what's on the line. We are in a hole right now, we've got to go out and play the kind of golf we are capable of; if we do that, then we'll have an opportunity on the third day. What this is all about is getting yourself in yourself into position. We're executing fine, although we can stand to make a few more putts with some of the opportunities we're getting. At the end of the day, we need to be ready to go and compete."
Up next: The second round of the conference championship will get underway at 7:30 a.m. (CDT) on Monday from split tees.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. 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.
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