DAY ONE RESULTS (GolfStat)
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans Golf team's hot start to the season continued on Monday at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate. The Privateers added two more rounds under par to their tally at RidgePointe Country Club and finished the opening 36 holes in fifth place with a 12-under-par total of 564.
On a course where the Privateers have struggled in the past New Orleans used rounds of 284 and 280 to finish the afternoon above 11 other schools, including all five from the Southland Conference in Jonesboro. In seven previous outings at RidgePointe Country Club UNO's best round was a 289 last season with most prior rounds in the mid-290s or above.
Mason Roberts had the best round of the afternoon for New Orleans, shooting a 68 during the second round on his way to a score of 141. Roberts made ten birdies through two rounds and his third career eagle at UNO. That eagle on hole 18 during the second round triggered an incredible back nine where the Lubbock native sank four birdies on his final seven holes of the afternoon.
Mason's second round score was his best single round as a Privateer, and best collegiately since a 66 he shot at the 2020 Andrews College A&M Invite as a member of Odessa Community College.
Maximilian Wojciechowski's second season on the Lakefront continued at a below par pace as well on Monday afternoon. Max put up scores of 71 and 70 to finish tied for 21st place along with Roberts. The Berlin native has been at par or better in nine of his 11 rounds this season, and under par in seven. Wojciechowski sank seven birdie putts and made an eagle for the second consecutive tournament on Monday.
Ryan Fulton finished tied for 29th after a 2-under-par performance with a score of 142, while Kyle Bennett and Canon Clark each finished tied for 37th at even par with scores of 144. Clark's first round score of 69 made him the first Privateer with back-to-back rounds below 70 since Brady Bennett went four straight rounds in 2021. Fulton also accomplished the feat at the 2019 Sam Hall Intercollegiate.
Five of the six Privateers that have competed this fall have shot rounds below 70 – Bennett has two, Clark has two, Fulton has two, Wojciechowski has two, and Roberts has one.
Eight of the team's 11 rounds have been under par this season, including six of the last seven – the most since the 2007-2008 team finished with 11 rounds under par. The Privateers are averaging 284 strokes per round this fall and are currently on pace to break the school scoring average record by over five strokes.
Round three gets underway tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. with a shotgun start. The Privateers will be paired with Belmont, UT-Martin and Kansas City with live scoring available on GolfStat.
DAY ONE RESULTS
5 New Orleans, U. of 284, 280 | 564
T21 Maximilian Wojciechowski (2) 70, 71 | 141
T21 Mason Roberts (3) 73, 68 | 141
T29 Ryan Fulton (5) 72, 70 | 142
T37 Kyle Bennett (1) 73, 71 | 144
T37 Canon Clark (4) 69, 75 | 144
HEAD COACH JEFF LORIO
"Really good day for the guys today. All throughout the lineup we had guys contribute. There are still some things that we need to clean up but the bottom line is the guys are fighting through adversity and putting up solid round after solid round. We are over a third of the way through the season and are averaging 284 per round. That is not an accident - the guys are playing that well. Tomorrow presents yet another opportunity for us to go out there and put up a low round and hopefully move up the leaderboard."
(on Mason Roberts)
"I'm very happy to see Mason post a round in the 60s this afternoon. He has been close all year but has not been able to quite get over the hump. The way he played the back nine today was impressive. There is no doubt in my mind that this will give him the confidence to continue to shoot these type of numbers on a regular basis."
SOCIAL MEDIA
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