Golfers Off to Hot Start at Conference USA Championships

April 22, 2002

After watching his team stumble out of the blocks with poor opening rounds in each of the last six events, University of Louisville head coach Mark Crabtree would be the first to admit that his team is a slow starter. Time and again Crabtree witnessed his squad struggle early on only to rally and fall a few shots shy of a tournament win. That trend came to an end today as the U of L golfers got off to a hot start with a six-over-par 294 in the first round of the Conference USA Championships.

Playing in a highly-competitive field featuring two of the nation's top 30 teams in TCU and UAB, Crabtree knew a slow start would end his team's chances of claiming a conference title. Perhaps his squad felt some urgency as well as the Cards came out firing on all cylinders to gain a fifth-place tie with Houston, only three shots off the pace set by clubhouse leader Southern Miss.

"That 294 is a great score for us," Crabtree said. "We've had our struggles early on but today we came out and really put together a complete round of golf."

Leading the way, as they have done for much of the season, were freshman Brett Jones and senior Grant Sturgeon. Both golfers entered the final event of the season chasing the U of L single season stroke average of 73.69 set by Chris Campbell during the 1999-00 campaign and both golfers inched closer to the mark with solid opening rounds. Jones, who came into the event with a 73.97 average, fired a two-under-par 70 and sits in a five-way tie for fifth-place, four shots off the pace set by TCU's Bret Guetz. Already the U of L record holder for career stroke average, Sturgeon, who owns a 73.84 average for the season, recovered from trouble on the first two holes to notch a two-over-par 74.

"Brett (Jones) and Grant (Sturgeon) played extremely well and really set the tone for us today," Crabtree said. "We really got a good effort from the entire team and hopefully that will carry over into tomorrow."

In addition to Jones and Sturgeon, the Cards got solid performances from freshmen Mark Anderson and Charlie Woo and sophomore Matt Bascom. Anderson and Woo both carded a three-over 75 and sit in an eight-way tie for 29th-place while Bascom is two shots behind them in 43rd-place with a five-over 77.

Play will resume on Tuesday with an 8:00 a.m. EST start from The Club at Hidden Creek in Navarre, Fla.

    Finish  Team    Score    1   Southern Miss   291        TCU 291    3   Charlotte   292    4   South Florida   293    5   Louisville  294        Houston 294    7   UAB 295    8   Tulane  298    9   East Carolina   299    10  Memphis 300        Cincinnati  300    12  DePaul  304    13  Marquette   305    14  St. Louis   306

    Finish  Player  Score    T-5 Brett Jones  70 (-2)    T-21    Grant Sturgeon    74 (+2)    T-29    Mark Anderson  75 (+3)    T-29    Charlie Woo  75 (+3)    T-43    Matt Bascom  77 (+5)

University of Louisville Athletics

Golfers Off to Hot Start at Conference USA Championships

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