May 14, 2009
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NCAA Austin Regional Home Page - includes post-round quotes
AUSTIN, Texas - Junior Hugues Joannes shot a 3-under 68 to share the opening round lead in the NCAA Men's Golf Austin Regional at the University of Texas Golf Club Thursday.
Joannes opened the day with three-consecutive birdies and ended with six overall, to go along with three bogeys. It was the lowest first round score of his Lamar career and the third time he has carded a 68 this season, including in the second round of the SLC Championship two weeks ago.
It is also the second-lowest ever in a regional by a Lamar golfer, just behind Dawie Van Der Walt's 67 in the second round of the 2005 regional in South Bend, Ind.
"Hugues played fantastic today," Lamar coach Brian White said. "He saved us today and kept us within striking distance."
The junior from Brussels, Belgium is tied with Lance Lopez of Texas for the early lead in the 54-hole tournament. Texas Tech teammates Nils Floren and Brian Scherer are tied with Stanford's Steve Siegler two shots back at 70.
Lamar started the day on fire by playing the first four holes at 2-under, and ended with a flourish by touring the final six holes at one-under, which allowed the team to climb six spots from 11th into a tie for fifth with UNLV at 296.
The 296 score by the Cardinals is the third-lowest first round total in a regional in school history and the lowest since posting a 286 to open the 2007 regional in Chardon, Ohio.
"Well, we started out very well and then made some mistakes on the five-hole stretch that has played the toughest when we didn't keep things simple," White added. "We had a few three-putts and just didn't play as smart as we could have.
"You just can't make big numbers on that stretch and need to realize that one- or two-over isn't that bad through five, six, seven and eight."
Texas Tech leads the 13-team field after firing the only sub-par team score, a 2-under 282. Host Texas is second at 291, Florida is third at 293 and Stanford is fourth at 294 - two strokes ahead of the Cardinals and Rebels.
Senior Leroux Ferriera shot a 4-over 75 and is tied for 25th. Two of his three birdies on the day came on two of the three par 5s - the 605-yard ninth and the 562-yard 14th.
Freshman Kevin Hesbois had a rough front nine with three bogeys and a double before setting down on the back side with a bogey and eight pars. He is tied for 32nd after signing for a 76.
Senior Justin Harding shot a 6-over 77 on Thursday and is tied for 39th position. He was seven-over after 10 holes before notching two birdies and a bogey over the final eight holes.
Freshman Xavier Feyaerts turned in an 80 as his score was dropped from the team total.
The top five teams and the highest placing individual not on one of those teams will advance to the NCAA Championship, set for May 26-30 in Toledo, Ohio, at the Inverness Club.
The Cardinals will be paired with Stanford and UNLV in Friday's second round. The first pairing of those teams will tee-off on No. 1 at 8:50 a.m.
