No. 41 Sam Houston State’s men’s golf team ended the first round at the top of both the individual and team leaderboards in the Southland Conference Championships at the Stonebridge Country Club on Monday in McKinney.
Courtesy Bearkat Athletics
After shooting a 70 to open the tournament, senior J.T. Taylor is first on the individual leaderboard with a one-shot lead over five other SLC opponents.
“You had to pay attention throughout the whole round and control your golf ball, otherwise it was going to be a long day,” Taylor said. “I’m just going to focus on the process and take it one shot at a time, one day at a time. All I want to do is keep improving.”
The closest Bearkat to Taylor is sophomore Andrew Ertel who tied for eighth place with two other players by shooting a 72.
Seniors Zach Cabra and Logan Boatner both ended tied for 11th place with Homero de Toledo from University of New Orleans after one round. Cabra and Boatner shot a 73 in the first round. Last season Cabra won the SLC tournament after shooting a 69 in the first two rounds before ending the tournament with a 72 in the third.
Freshman Jake McCory tied for 23rd with Southeastern Louisiana’s James Anstiss and Lawrence Allan. McCory shot a 76 in the round.
“The whole team seems very determined to play well this week and we all want to be in the mix coming down the stretch on Wednesday,” Taylor said.
Head coach Brandt Kieschnick said the back nine was the Kats’ tough break in the first 18. After posting 10 birdies in the front nine, the Bearkats combined for just two birdies in the back nine.
“The back nine is definitely the more challenging nine and the wind was out of the north [Monday], making it even tougher,” Kieschnick said. “I was really proud of the way the guys hung in there and kept their composure. A 288 was a good score today. We’ve got 36 more holes to go and need to maintain that focus.”
SHSU holds a six-shot lead over Houston Baptist heading into today’s second round. The Kats tee-off at 10:45 a.m.