Oct. 24, 2005
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ---- The Samford University men's and women's golf completed the first day of competition at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay. Despite competing in cold, windy weather, the men's team sits in seventh place, while the women sit in eighth.
Through two rounds of play at the par 72 Links at Novadell course, the Bulldog men shot a combined score of 593, 17 over par, to finish seventh on the day. The men shot a 292 in the first round, to tie for fifth, but dropped to seventh following a 301 in the second round. Currently Southern Illinois leads the field with a score of 566 (-10).
"The weather was very cold and brutal today, which definitely affected the way everyone played," said Samford men's head coach Woodie Eubanks. "We need to focus on finishing rounds and making sure we're prepared for tournament golf."
Individually, the Bulldogs placed one in the top-20, with Bradley Pate tying for 15th. Pate shot a one-over-par 145 through two rounds. Pate's top score came in the first round, when he shot a 2-under par 70. Tim Streng of Southern Illinois leads the individual field with a total score of 137 (-7).
The Samford women shot a combined 334 through the first round of the 36-hole tournament at the par-71 Clarksville Country Club, and are in good position to move up in the rankings, as only four strokes separates Samford from the two teams tied for fourth. Currently, Southern Illinois leads the tournament with a combined score of 316.
"I'm pleased with the fact that we're in eighth and bunched so closely with so many other teams," said Samford women's head coach Ian Thompson. "I would be delighted if we could push forward tomorrow. Overall, I'm happy with the way we've played, because we really had some difficult conditions today."
The women had a player land in the top 10 on the day. Kelly Stout tied for sixth overall, after shooting a 78 on the day. Stout recovered from a difficult front nine to shoot the second-best back-nine scores on the day, with a 36.
"I'm very encouraged by Kelly Stout's score," Thompson said. "I thought to myself before we teed off that anything under 80 would be good today, because it was cold and windy and this course has some very fast greens. She really played very well today, particularly on the back nine."
Currently Belmont's Audra Williams leads the field after shooting a 74 on the day.
Tuesday marks the final day of competition at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate. The women's team is set to tee off with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m., while the men's team will tee off in an 8 a.m. shotgun start.
