Men’s Golf Completes Opening Round In Iowa
BURLINGTON, Iowa – Alex Franklin fired a 1-over 73 to lead the Oregon State men’s golf team at Golfweek’s Conference Challenge on Sunday in its opening round of the 2014-15 season.
The Beavers started on the 10th hole at the par-72, 7,222-yard Spirit Hollow Golf Course and were 14 over as a team through nine holes. They settled down over the next nine, shooting a 1 over, to finish the opening round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament with a 13-over 301.
LSU fired a 10-under 278 to lead the 12-team field by eight strokes over Iowa and nine better than SMU. Oregon State sits in 10th place with 36 holes to play.
“This isn’t the start we were looking for to begin the season,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “We recovered a bit on the back nine, but need to relax and do a better job of committing to our shots. This course has some visually intimidating tee shots and second shots, and we simply didn’t execute.”
| 10 | Oregon State | 301 | 301 |
| T17 | Alex Franklin (5) | 73 | 73 |
| T24 | Kevin Murphy (4) | 74 | 74 |
| T40 | Jonas Liebich (2) | 76 | 76 |
| 48 | Conner Kumpula (1) | 78 | 78 |
| T49 | Tyler Carlson (3) | 79 | 79 |
Franklin, the lone Oregon State senior competing in the season’s opening event, was 3 over going out but carded two birdies and seven pars coming in to lead the Beavers with a 1-over 73. He had three birdies on the day, with all of them coming on par-4’s.
Sophomore Kevin Murphy, who is coming off an excellent freshman campaign, was also 3 over through nine holes before posting two birdies, six pars and a bogey on the back side to shoot a 2-over 74. Freshman Jonas Liebich, who is making his collegiate debut, followed the same route as Franklin and Murphy, going 4 over through nine and even on the back to finish with a 4-over 76.
Sophomore Conner Kumpula made up the Beavers’ final score in the first round with a 6-over 78, while junior Tyler Carlson finished with a 7-over 79.
Only 11 players of the 60 in the field shot in red figures led by LSU’s Stewart Jolly who carded a 5-under 67.
The second round will begin at 9 a.m. CT (7 a.m. PT) on Monday with tee times off the first and 10th holes. The Beavers will be paired with UTEP and Richmond, and live scoring is available at golfstat.com.
