SILVIS, Ill. – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team had a rough back nine in the opening round of the 58th annual NAIA Men’s Golf Championship and wound up tied for 20th place on Tuesday.
The Warriors shot a team score of 314, which is 30 over par. LCSC was only nine over on the front side and tied for 3rd place, but then went 21 over on the back side to slip in the standings.
Fortunately, there is still a log-jam among the teams competing in the tournament. Oklahoma Christian leads the tournament at 7-over. LCSC is within five shots of seven 10 and within 12 shots of the ninth-place team.
“It s a tough course where they play the PGA TPC John Deere Classic and we had some problems on the back nine,” LCSC coach Paul Thompson said.
Every Warrior shot at least four shots worse on the back side. Sophomores Chris Kneen and Connor McCracken both carded 76s on Tuesday. McCracken was even on the front side, but bogeyed his first two holes on the back nine. Kneen was 1-over on the front and birdied the 10th hole, but had four bogeys and a double bogey over the final seven holes.
Sophomore Ben House added an 80 with three double bogeys during the round, while Patrick Casabonne had an 82. Casabonne had three birdies on the front side, while Scott Mooney, who had an 84, had two birdies on the front. In all LCSC had seven birdies on the front, and only three on the back. LCSC also had seven double bogeys on the back, compared to four on the front.
The 72-hole four-day tournament continues Wednesday with the second round.
