The Missouri State men’s golf team finished its first tournament of the 2009 spring season in 10^th place with a team total of 897 for 54 holes.  The Rice Intercollegiate presented by Srixon was comprised of 15 teams and was played on the par 72, 7184-yard Westwood Golf Club in Houston, Texas.  The first 36 holes of the tournament were played Monday and the final 18 holes were completed Tuesday morning.

Pacific won the team title with a 54-hole total of 874.  Four strokes behind was tournament host, Rice (878), which finished second.  Liberty came in third with 882 strokes for the three rounds and in fourth was Houston at 883.  Louisiana-Lafayette (885), North Carolina State (886) and San Francisco (888) finished fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.  In eighth place was Nebraska with 889 strokes and just ahead of the Bears in ninth was William and Mary (891).

Ji Hwan Park of San Francisco earned medalist honors with two under-par rounds of 70 and 68 on Monday and an even-par round of 72 on Tuesday.  He finished with a 54-hole total of 210, three strokes ahead of the second place finisher. 

Leading the Bears on the final day of the tournament was freshman Jordan McLaurin.  He fired a two-under-par round of 70 to finish in a tie for 13^th place with a 54-hole total of 220.  Three strokes behind was sophomore Jack Courington with a three-round total of 223.  He fired rounds of 73-75-75, with a hole-in-one during the first round of competition on the 191-yard, par three 15^th.

Placing 29^th individually was junior Jay McBride.  McBride posted rounds of 73-74-77 to finish with a total of 224, only one stroke behind Courington.  Also for the Bears, junior Scott Glenn finished 65^th by carding rounds of 74-81-79--243.  Finally, in a tie for 67^th place was sophomore Matt Cermak with rounds of 80-78-78 for a 54-hole total of 236.

The Bears travel to Tampa, Fla., to compete in the South Florida Invitational next.  The tournament is scheduled to begin on March 6 and will consist of 54 holes of play over three days. 

Day One Recap

The Bears ended the first day of competition in ninth place with a 36-hole team total of 575.  Sophomore Jack Courington carded his first ace of his collegiate career on the 15^th hole, a 191-yard par three.  He posted the only hole-in-one of the Rice Intercollegiate. 

Courington and junior teammate Jay McBride led the team for the first 18 holes of the 36-hole day with rounds of 73.  McBride posted a second round 74 to finish first for the Bears with a 36-hole total of 147.  He finished the day tied for 17^th place individually out of 77 golfers. 

Courington was tied in 21^st place and posted a two-round total of 148. Only two strokes behind Courington was freshman Jordan McLaurin with consistent rounds of 75 for an individual total of 150.   He was tied in 29^th place after the first day.  Also for the Bears was junior Scott Glenn and sophomore Matt Cermak.  Glenn finished the day tied for 56^th with rounds of 74-81—155 and Cermak was tied in 68^th place, posting rounds of 80-78 for a total of 158.