ORLANDO, Fla. – Coming off of a rocky first round, the University of South Alabama men’s golf team rebounded to finish tied in eighth at the Rio Pinar Invitational Monday. The Jags shot rounds of 297 and 294, 19 strokes behind leader Tulsa (572). Tulsa golfer Brett Myers fired an eight-under par 136 to take a five stroke lead over the field.
“The first 14 holes everybody was in the game, but we closed very poorly,” said men’s coach Ben Hannan. “We need to take advantage of better opportunities if we want to move up the leader board.”
In first round action, sophomore Kyle Simmons fired an even-par 72, while junior Jonny Caldwell carded 73. Freshman Marc-Etienne Bussieres fired a three-over par 77, while sophomores Daniel Burns and Dan Swomley recorded rounds of 77 and 83 respectively.
USA bounced back in round two, moving up two spots to finish day one in eighth. Simmons once again led the Jags firing a one-under par 71. Currently he is tied in fifth place. Burns carded 72, while Caldwell turned in a two-over par 74. Bussieres and Burns both recorded 77 to round out the Jags scoring.
Behind Tulsa on the leader board is UT-Chattanooga (575) and Mississippi State (579) in third. Louisville (583) and South Florida (584) are in fourth and fifth respectively.
Behind Myers are three golfers tied with a one-under par 141. Simmons is currently tied with three other golfers in fifth, with a one-over par 143.
“The weather is perfect and tomorrow we should see some even lower scores tomorrow,” said Hannan. “We played better than our scores reflect, but we still have an opportunity and there is a lot of golf left.”
Round three action continues tomorrow with a single tee start at 8:45 a.m.
T-8 South Alabama 297 – 294 = 591
T-5 Kyle Simmons 72 – 71 = 143
T-24 Jonny Caldwell 73 – 74 = 147
T-40 Daniel Burns 77 – 72 = 149
T-64 Marc-Etienne Bussieres 75 – 77 = 152
T-94 Dan Swomley 83 – 77 = 160
