The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tunica National Collegiate
Blazer Golfers Battle Wind, In Second At Tunica National
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 31, 2005
TUNICA, Miss. - The UAB men's golf team stands in second place out of 15 teams after two rounds of the first-ever Tunica National Collegiate men's golf tournament hosted by Ole Miss. The Blazers fired team scores of 302-304 on a wind-whipped day at the par 72, 7,204-yard Tunica National Golf Course. UAB sits just four strokes behind Conference USA rival and tournament leading SMU, which shot 300-302.
Ironically, UAB's Garrett Osborn, the third rated individual in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin computer ratings, aggravated a left wrist injury and withdrew from the first round. He returned to shoot a 77 in round two, but the Blazers essentially turned in an impressive team performance without their normal low golfer.
"This just goes to show that this team is not made up of one man," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "As much as we need Garrett Osborn on the course, we have some talent on this squad. We battled some difficult conditions with wind gusts around 30 miles per hour out there today, but so did everyone else. The scores aren't real impressive if you don't factor in the conditions, but we're within a shot or two of winning this tournament with high wind gusts and Garrett having to pull out of the first round. Outside of my concern for Garrett's injury, it's hard to be disappointed."
Osborn injured the wrist in practice just days before his record-setting performance at the Jerry Pate National Collegiate three weeks ago. He is expected to return to the course Tuesday for the third and final round of the 54-hole tournament.
"Garrett will be fine," Kaufman said. "We're about to hit a winter break that will allow him to rest it, so I'm not overly concerned. He may have some difficulty in these last few rounds of the fall, but it's minor and we'll work through it."
Senior Clark Brown led the way for UAB on Monday, shooting rounds of 73-76 to stand tied for sixth place in the 77-person field. Sophomore Kaylor Timmons went 76-76 and freshman Zack Sucher shot 77-75. The duo is tied for 16th place at eight-over par 152. Freshman Josh Thompson shot 76-79 and is in 31st place in the field. Osborn's scores will not factor individually because of his first round withdrawal. His contributions will count toward the team score should his round be in UAB's four low rounds. His 77 in the second round was the fourth score counted for the Blazers.
Logan Young of Mississippi State leads the field after an impressive five-under par 67 in the first round. His 67-76=143 is the only under-par score through 36 holes. Colorado's Edward McGlasson shot even par in both rounds to stand in second place on the individual leaderboard.
SMU and UAB lead No. 24 Kent State (301-310=611), Mississippi State (315-298=613) and UNC Greensboro (309-306=615), which round out the top five teams. Six through nine on the team leaderboard includes Belmont, Colorado, host Ole Miss and Tulane. South Alabama and Lamar are tied for 10th.
The third and final round of the tournament will be played Tuesday.
Tunica National Collegiate Round Two Results in PDF Format
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