Click here for a photo gallery from the first day of the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional.
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - In order to advance to the NCAA national championships, the University of South Alabama men's golf team will need to finish in the top five among the 13 teams competing at the NCAA South Regional this weekend. The Jaguars took the first step toward making that happen Thursday.
Marc-Etienne Bussieres and Jack Hiluta, the only upperclassmen in the Jags' lineup for the tournament, each carded a 1-over-par 71 in the first of three rounds at the regional as USA posted a 292 team total to finish the day in a tie for seventh place. The Jaguars, who are even with No. 33 Wake Forest and 44th-ranked Furman, are three strokes behind fifth-place Brigham Young.
No. 14 Georgia Tech, the region's third seed, is in third place but only five shots in front of the Jags.
"Based on the conditions, the golf course played extremely hard. It was about perseverance today," USA head coach Ben Hannan commented. "We had some guys who got out of the gate slow, but battled and ended up being a counter.
"Like the saying goes, you can't win it on the first day but you certainly can lose it."
Bussieres bogeyed three of the first eight holes, including both Nos. 16 and 17 at the 7,182-yard, par-70 Capital City Club Crabapple Course, before turning his round around. The senior responded with a three on the 18th to get one of those shots back, then added birdies at the fourth and eighth holes to return to even par before bogeying the final hole of the day.
"I had a couple of bogeys on a tough stretch, but knew that could happen so I didn't get too mad about it," he stated. "I knew there were some holes on the front nine where I could have some birdie opportunities. It started on 18 when I hit a nine iron to a foot, and I used wedges to get close on No. 4 and No. 8. Whenever I had an opportunity to hit a good wedge shot I took advantage of it and tried to get closer to the pin. Quite often, when you had a long iron, you just couldn't get close, you had to hit to your area and make a two putt.
"I just played the course the way you are supposed to, taking advantage of where you could make birdies and playing it safe in the other places."
Hiluta had three birdies and three bogeys to sit at even par until he too bogeyed the final hole. He got to 1-under with a four on No. 12, then followed with a bogey and birdie to remain there until a five at the 16th left him at even par at the turn. The junior's lone birdie on the back side on the par-three sixth.
"Today it was about patience, I just tried to pick my areas and choose when to go at flags and when not to," Hiluta said. "With the golf course set up the way it was, it wasn't very often that you got to shoot at flags, so most of the time it was plucking along and taking pars. No one is going to go deep out there, par goes forever.
"I didn't feel any different," he added in regards to making his NCAA postseason debut. "It's still the same game, so I'm doing the same things I normally do. It's run a little better and the food is a little better, but apart from that it's just another tournament, which is the way we should treat it. Things have been working so far for us, there's no need to change."
Both Bussieres and Hiluta are in a tie for 13th in the field of 75 individuals after the opening 18 holes.
"Marc and Jack played great," said Hannan. "Obviously we go as far as they go, they're the heart and soul of this team. We need those guys to continue to do their job - I expect them to play to that level, and to keep doing that this weekend."
Both McLain Leberte and Blake Kelley each carded a 75 in the first round of the event and are tied for 39th place, while Chris Piumelli is in a tie for 55th after recording a 77. Leberte led the group with three birdies, with all of those coming after he bogeyed four of the opening five holes. In playing 1-over par the rest of the way, the freshman posted threes on Nos. 17, six and seven.
"I basically just kept talking to coach," Leberte stated. "I guess I came out with a little adrenaline and some nerves, I wasn't that crisp, so we started looking at areas of the green for the easiest place to make pars from. If you make pars out here, that's a couple of shots off the lead right now. I played a little more conservative than usual and took advantage of opportunities when I could with some aggressive lines on certain holes like four and five.
"We would like to have done better than we did today, but we were in the exact same position at the conference championships," he continued. "It was exactly as I expected today, you needed to go out there and be patient and not let the course get the best of you. It was a grind and a battle, but now I know what to expect the next few days. We'll have to take advantage of opportunities when we get them."
Kelley collected birdies on Nos. 18 and four, while Piumelli had a two on the 15th and to go along with a birdie on the par four second hole.
No. 4 Oklahoma State, the top seed in the region, took the first-round lead with a 2-over-par 282, which was one stroke better than fourth-seeded, 20th-ranked Clemson. BYU's Robbie Fillmore, John Tyler Griffin of Georgia Tech, Jonathan Randolph of Mississippi and OSU's Peter Uihlein are all tied for the individual lead after recording 2-under-par 68s over the opening 18 holes. Just five other players are below par entering the second day of the tournament.
"All in all, I'm pleased, but we've got to get better," observed Hannan. "We need to continue to improve if we want to be in the hunt at the end. This entire course is based on your approach shot and the leave - it's the difference between being extremely defensive or possibly having a more offensive putt on an upslope. What we'll do tonight is sit down, guess on where some different pins might be and try to work our game plan so that the guys are tuned in to the shot they want to hit and, more than anything, where they want to leave the ball."
Second round action will start on the 10th hole at 6:30 a.m. Friday, with the Jags paired with Furman and Wake Forest.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
-USA-
NCAA Southeast Regional
Capitol City Club Crabapple Course, Alpharetta, Ga.
Par 70, 7,182 yards
Team Scores: 1) Oklahoma State 282 (+2); 2) Clemson 283; 3) Georgia Tech 287; 4) Georgia Southern 288; 5) Brigham Young 289; 6) Arizona State 290; T7) South Alabama 292; T7) Wake Forest 292; T7) Furman 292; 10) Coastal Carolina 293; 11) Arkansas 296; 12) Mississippi 301; 13) Towson 308.
Individual Leaders: T1) Peter Uihlein, OSU 68 (-2); T1) John Tyler Griffin, GT 68; T1) Jonathan Randolph, UM 68; T1) Robbie Fillmore, BYU 68; T5) Scott Pinckney, ASU 69; T5) Garland Ferrell, FU 69; T5) Dan Obremski, CCU 69; T5) Logan Blondell, GSU 69; T5) Mitchell Gregson, KSU 69.
South Alabama Scores: T13) Marc-Etienne Bussieres 71 (+1); T13) Jack Hiluta 71; T39) McLean Leberte 75; T39) Blake Kelley 75; T55) Chris Piumelli 77.
