News
04-30-10 Cajuns finish fourth at Sun Belt meet
UL squad has tourney’s low score on final day
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. — UL’s golf team posted the lowest round in the entire Sun Belt Conference Tournament over its final 18 holes, and used that to claim a fourth-place team finish while also putting two players in the top 10 and three in the top 15.
The Ragin’ Cajuns carded a final-round eight-under-par 280 over the Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals’ “Fighting Joe” course and finished with a three-round total of 16-over 880 to move up from sixth place entering the final round.
South Alabama claimed the team title with a final-round 282 and a three-round eight-over 872 total, with first and second-round leader Middle Tennessee finishing at 878 — two ahead of the Cajuns — and New Orleans finishing at 879 for a one-stroke advanage over UL.
All four of UL’s counting scores in the final round were under par — three-under 69’s from Philipp Fendt and Andrew Noto and one-under 71’s from Kyle Pritchard and Mark Brockhurst — and Thomas Disch added an even-par 72 for the squad’s best team round of the spring season.
Those figures vaulted Fendt and Pritchard into a tie for sixth individually at one-over 217, while Noto finished 15th at five-over 221 after his final-round 69. All three earned All-Sun Belt Conference recognition, with UL and Middle Tennessee the only teams to boast three all-league selections (more on all-Sun Belt picks below).
The strong final round mirrored last year’s Sun Belt meet, when the Cajuns had the tournament’s low score in the final round with a five-under 283 on the way to a fourth-place finish.
Pritchard, a senior, had back-to-back 71 scores in the final two rounds.
“It’s a great honor for Kyle in his senior year,” said UL coach Theo Sliman of his tournament. “To play his last tournament the way he did was just awesome. He took the initiative and stepped up in the last two rounds.”
Fendt, UL’s leader in stroke average during the season, rallied from a three-over 75 in the middle round on the way to his 69, which matched fellow sophomore Noto and was one stroke off the day’s best round.
“It’s impressive to earn all-conference as sophomores,” Sliman said. “This is a huge positive for their futures. It shows a lot about their performance this season and what is to come.”
Pritchard, Fendt, Noto earn all-Sun Belt honors
It is the second straight honor for Pritchard. The senior closes out his collegiate career, having played in 37 tournaments with 14 top-25 finishes. His best finish came at the Red Wolf Classic last season where he earned co-medalist honors.
It is the first all-conference award for Fendt and Noto. Last year, Fendt was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Both golfers were the top-finisher for UL in every tournament this season. Fendt led the Cajuns in nine tournaments and Fendt finished as the top Cajun golfer in three events.
2010 SUN BELT CONFERENCE MEN’S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Kent Bulle, Middle Tennessee
Marc-Etienne Bussieres, South Alabama
Rodolfo Cazaubon, North Texas
Lloyd du Preez, Arkansas State
Philipp Fendt, Louisiana
Linus Gillgren, UALR
Hunter Green, Middle Tennessee
Jack Hiluta, South Alabama
Espen Kofstad, Denver
Ken Looper, New Orleans
Jason Millard, Middle Tennessee
Andrew Noto, Louisiana
Carlos Ortiz, North Texas
Kyle Pritchard, Louisiana
Alex Yost, WKU
Oscar Zetterwall, New Orleans
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Rodolfo Cazaubon, North Texas
COACH OF THE YEAR
Chris McCarter, New Orleans
04-25-10 UL to open play in Sun Belt Championships
Cajuns seek to match 2007 league title run
UL’s Ragin’ Cajun golf team will take part in the Sun Belt Conference Championship beginning Monday, Apr. 26 in Muscle Shoals, Ala. This year’s three-day tournament is being held at The Shoals, part of Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, with teams playing three 18-hole rounds Monday through Wednesday to determine the league title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cajuns and the 12 other Sun Belt men’s golf teams will attempt to tackle The Shoals’ “Fighting Joe” course. The par-72 course that runs along Wilson Lake on the Tennessee River is hosting the Sunelt meet for the second time in three years.
Teeing off for the Cajuns will be Philipp Fendt, Andrew Noto, Kyle Pritchard, Mark Brockhurst and Thomas Disch.
As a team, UL is coming off a fourth-place finish at the ASU Red Wolf Classic. In the final round, the Cajuns posted a team-score of 4-under to jump from a tie in seventh to fourth.
Fendt is currently ranked as the 110th golf in the Royal & Ancient World Amateur Golf Ranking. He ranks sixth among the Sun Belt with an average score this season of 72.23.
Noto is averaging 73.07 strokes per round this season and is ranked 11th in the league.
Middle Tennessee won last year’s championship. The Cajuns claimed the conference championship in 2007.
04-25-10 Cajuns sign two more players for 2010-11 season
UL’s newest recruits from Australia, Austria
UL’s Ragin’ Cajun golf coach Theo Sliman has announced two additions to his team for the 2010-11 season. Peter Lamaris and Christoph Weninger have signed National Letters of Intent to tee off for the Cajuns next season.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed recruiting these young men,” said Sliman. “I feel that both these young men will make an immediate impact on our program, not only from their talent but also from their character as young men.”
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Local results
04-27-10 Cajuns slip back one spot in Sun Belt golf
UL squad sixth entering final round, three strokes out of third
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – UL’s golf team slipped back one spot in Tuesday’s second round, but remains in the hunt for a high finish in the Sun Belt Conference Golf Tournament entering the final round.
The Ragin’ Cajuns added a 303 to their opening 297 total, and stand s at 24-over-par 600 going into Wednesday’s final 18 holes. The Cajuns are 14 back of 41st-ranked and front-running Middle Tennessee, but are only two strokes out of fourth place.
Middle held onto its first-round lead with a 300 score on Tuesday, but New Orleans made a big move with the low round of Tuesday’s play with a five-over 293 team score. The Privateers are only three strokes back at 589, and South Alabama is one more stroke behind at 390.
North Texas and UL Monroe are each two strokes ahead of the Cajuns at 598 after two trips around the 7,171-yard par-72 “Fighting Joe” layout at the Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals complex.
The Cajuns couldn’t match their consistency from Monday’s first round when all four of UL’s counting scores ranked in the top 25 individually and the lowest score the Cajuns had to count was a three-over 75. Instead, UL had to count both a 77 and an 80 in Tuesday’s second round.
Kyle Pritchard, though, rebounded from an opening 75 with a one-under-par 71 in the middle round, and he stands tied for eighth individually at two-over 146. His 71 tied for the third-lowest round of the day.
UL’s Philipp Fendt, who was tied for 10th after an opening 73, added a 75 to stand at four-over 148 and tied for 15th entering the final round. Andrew Noto (75-77–152) is tied for 28th, Thomas Disch (74-80—154) is tied for 34th and Mark Brockhurst (77-82—159) is 50th in the 60-player field.
UNO’s Oscar Zetterwall holds the individual lead at 71-66—137, seven-under-par after shooting the day’s low round by four strokes Tuesday. He is six strokes ahead of the field. Carlos Ortiz of North Texas, who blazed to a 64 on Monday to tie the course record and lead the event by six shots, skied to an 83 on Tuesday and shot himself completely out of the top 10.
The final round will begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday with UL paired with North Texas and UL Monroe.
SUN BELT CONFERENCE GOLF TOURNAMENT
SECOND ROUND SCORES
TEAM
1. Middle Tennessee 286-300—586
2. New Orleans 296-293—589
3. South Alabama 296-294—590
4. North Texas 291-307—598
4. UL Monroe 302-296–598
6. UL Lafayette 297-303—600
7. Arkansas State 303-298—601
8. Western Kentucky 298-306—604
9. Florida Atlantic 305-303—608
10. Ark.-Little Rock 308-302—610
11. Troy 312-304—616
12. Denver 308-309—617
INDIVIDUAL
1. Oscar Zetterwall, UNO 71-66—137
2. Hunter Green, MT 73-70—143
3. Troy Anderson, DU 72-73—145
3. Rodolfo Cazaubon, UNT 72-73—145
3. Chris Plumelli, USA 72-73—145
3. Craig Smith, MT 70-75—145
3. Alex Yost, WKU 71-74—145
8. Marc-Eltienne Bussieres, USA 73-73—146
8. Kyle Pritchard, UL 75-71—146
8. Jack Hiluta, USA 73-73—146
11. Linus Gillgren, UALR 76-71—147
11. Jason Millard, MT 73-74—147
11. Carlos Ortiz, UNT 64-83—147
11. Nick Wilson, ULM 70-77—147
15. Philipp Fendt, UL 73-75—148
15. Ken Looper, UNO 74-74—148
15. Wessel Zwiegers, ASU 76-72—148
18. Espen Kofstad, DU 76-73—149
18. Michael Oates, ULM 74-75—149
20. Hector Arias, UNO 76-74—150
20. Doug Kleeschulte, WKU 75-75—150
20. Chris Pledger, ASU 76-74—150
20. Kell Shenep, ASU 75-75—150
20. Ben Silverman, FAU 76-74—150
25. Kent Bulle, MT 70-81—151
25. Neil Horsley, WKU 78-73—151
25. Adam McCleary, ULM 79-72—151
28. Andrew Noto, UL 75-77—152
28. Richard Casko, Troy 74-78—152
28. Justin Eaves, Troy 79-73—152
28. Sebastian Gunnarsson, UALR 78-74—152
32. McLain Leberte, USA 78-75—153
32. Kelly McHugh, FAU 78-75—153
34. Thomas Disch, UL 74-80—154
34. Dylan Raines, UALR 77-77—154
34. Sebastian Szirmak, UNO 75-79—154
37. Marco Scarola, UNT 79-76—155
37. James Searson, ULM 83-72—155
37. Brad Simons, MT 74-81—155
40. Peter Fallon, UNT 76-80—156
40. Klointon Krieger, DU 76-80—156
40. Reid Merritt, Troy 77-79—156
40. Justin Thompson, FAU 82-74—156
40. Tyler Thompson, ASU 79-77—156
45. Carl McCauley, FAU 73-84—157
45. Zachary Portemont, Troy 83-74—157
47. Michael Baskovich, FAU 78-80—158
47. Andrew Heiser, WKU 74-84—158
47. Dustin Thompson, UNT 80-78—158
50. Mark Brockhurst, UL 77-82—159
51. Lloyd du Preez, ASU 76-84—160
52. Nicklaus Benton, UALR 77-84—161
52. Rourke Van Der Spuy, Troy 82-79—161
52. Felipe Velazquez, UALR 81-80—161
55. Blake Kelley, USA 79-82—162
56. Jeremy Cross, ULM 79-84—163
57. Jon Lopez, DU 84-84—168
58. Derek East, UNO 83-86—169
59. Kevin Gillick, DU 87-83—170
60. Logan Edelen, WKU 92-87—179
04-26-10 UL fifth after Sun Belt Tournament first round
Cajuns only one stroke out of third, 11 back of front-running Middle Tennessee
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – UL’s golf team couldn’t boast an exceptionally low individual score Monday in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and coach Theo Sliman wasn’t disappointed in that.
Instead, Sliman was happy with the consistency the Ragin’ Cajuns showed in their first trip around The Shoals’ 7,171-yard “Fighting Joe” layout, a trip that has them in fifth place after the first 18 holes – but only one stroke out of third place and 11 out of the lead.
“We had good consistency from top to bottom,” said Sliman after his team’s nine-over-par 297. “To me, I’m proud of that for the first day. Now if each player can clean that up just a little bit and we get some putts to fall, we can make a pretty good move.”
04-25-10 STM, Nickel take honors in prep league finale
Cougars win team title, Notre Dame’s Nickel has best individual score
NEW IBERIA — Johndavid Nickel of Notre Dame started out strong and never looked back in claiming individual honors, and St. Thomas More had solid all-around scores to win the team title in the Acadiana Area High School Golf League’s wrapup tournament for the 2010 season.
Nickel was three-under on the front side on the way to a 33-38–71 score over the Squirrel Run layout, finishin four strokes in front of Teurlings Catholic’s Michael Hollier and Acadiana High’s A. J. Gaudin in the individual chase.
STM, meanwhile, had its four counting scores all between 77 and 82 and rode that balance to a 317 total score, 14 shots better than runner-up Notre Dame (331). Lafayette High, which had won all but one of its eight AAHSGL matches during the regular season, had injury problems in the season-finale tournament and finished tied for third at 333 with Teurlings Catholic.
