Led by Casey Wharton’s 3-over-par 74, UMHB shot a team total of 311 strokes at the Woodlands Course to share ninth place in the 35-team field, 20 shots behind leader La Verne (Calif.) after the first of four rounds at Chateau Elan Resort.
“I thought we had a good day,” said Randy Mann, who is in his final tournament coaching the Crusaders before he becomes UMHB’s associate director of athletics in June.
“There were a couple of holes that hurt us or we would be in even better shape. We have a chance to go out and do it again tomorrow and stay in the top 10 or even move up a couple of spots.”
The top six teams in the standings played the par-71 Chateau Course, which is almost 300 yards longer than the Woodlands Course but played easier Tuesday.
American Southwest Conference champion UMHB, tied with Methodist (N.C.) and Wesley (Del.) and nine strokes behind third-place St. John Fisher (N.Y.) - will play the Chateau Course beginning at 7 a.m. CDT today.
After the second round, the field will be cut to the top 23 teams and the top five individuals not among the advancing teams. There are 180 players in the field.
Wharton, a senior, is tied for 16th place in the individual standings, six shots off the lead of St. John Fisher’s Scott Harris Jr., who fired a 3-under 68 on the Chateau Course for a one-stroke lead over Max Bonk of Pacific (Ore.). Only three of the top 15 individuals played the Woodlands.
Also for UMHB, junior Davis Dewald (Copperas Cove) and sophomore Garrison Nordt each shot 78 and are tied for 52nd and senior Ryan Eastman posted an 81 to share 87th. Sophomore Eric White, the ASC champion, struggled to an 84 (tied for 130th) that didn’t count toward the Crusaders’ score.
There is a four-stroke gap between UMHB and eighth-place LaGrange (Ga.), which shot 307 on Chateau.
La Verne leads Skidmore (N.Y.) by 10 strokes and St. John Fisher by 11. Linfield (Ore.) and Redlands (Calif.) are tied for fourth at 304, Huntingdon (Ala.) is sixth at 305 and Oglethorpe (Ga.) is seventh at 306.
