April 27, 2009
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KERRVILLE, Texas -- The Lamar men's golf team shot a 290 in the first round of the Southland Conference Championship to put itself in solid position heading into Tuesday's pivotal moving day at The Club at Comanche Trace in its bid for a 23rd league title.
The round was halted for nearly three hours due to lightning storms in the area. Lamar was five-over at the time of the stoppage before playing the remaining 10-12 holes at three-under.
Top seeds Lamar and UT Arlington played the back nine a combined 12-under-par to set the tone for the second and third days. UTA leads after an opening-round 284, highlighted by Zack Fischer and Bobby Massa who lead the individual standings with a 67 and 70, respectively.
For Lamar, senior Justin Harding struggled over his first eight holes, playing them at four-over, before closing the final ten with five birdies to shoot a 71 and put himself in a tie for third.
Freshman Kevin Hesbois was about as steady as one could have hoped for in his first SLC tourney round. He posted 14 pars with two bogeys and two birdies in a five-hole stretch to stand in a tie for fifth with an even par 72.
Junior Hugues Joannes notched two birdies over his final six holes to fire a one-over 73, a total that put him in the top 10 in a tie for eighth.
Senior Leroux Ferriera was the only Cardinal to play the back nine over par as his 35-39--74 placed him in a tie for 15th. He stood at one-under through ten before a double bogey and a pair of consecutive bogeys prevented him from going low on Monday.
Freshman Xavier Feyaerts found himself at five-over through six holes before holing-out for six-straight pars, followed by three birdies over his final six for a 74. That score, which was dropped from the Cardinals' day one total put him in a tie for 27th.
Lamar was in second following the first round last year, and in 2007 led by just six strokes after the first 18 holes. Both years the Cardinals shot the lowest round of the entire event on Tuesday.
Lamar and UTA will be playing together again on Tuesday, with the five pairings teeing off No. 1 starting at 9:20 a.m.
1 Texas-Arlington -4 F 284
2 Lamar University +2 F 290
3 Southeastern La. +4 F 292
4 Central Arkansas +8 F 296
5 UTSA +10 F 298
6 Stephen F. Austin +18 F 306
T7 Sam Houston State +21 F 309
T7 Texas State +21 F 309
9 McNeese State +22 F 310
10 Nicholls State +39 F 327
2 Lamar University +2 F 290 290
T3 Justin Harding -1 F 71 71
T5 Kevin Hesbois E F 72 72
T8 Hugues Joannes +1 F 73 73
T15 Leroux Ferriera +2 F 74 74
T27 Xavier Feyaerts +4 F 76 76
