MT keeping pace with top-ranked teams in Bahamas

Friday, November 1

Paradise Island, Bahamas

All Day

Middle Tennessee

White Sands Intercollegiate

11/1/2019 12:56:00 PM | Men's Golf

Four Raiders post under par rounds on opening day

By: @MTAthletics

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – After a slow start to the opening round of the White Sands Intercollegiate, Middle Tennessee Men's Golf kicked it up a notch to shoot up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth place at 9-under par (279).

The Blue Raiders finished the day right in the middle of a number of Top 50 teams, currently three strokes ahead of No. 1 Wake Forest (-6) and six strokes up on No. 46 UAB (-3), and will enter round two tied with No. 22 Arkansas (-9) and narrowly trailing No. 39 Houston (-12) and No. 2 SMU (-10).

Four Raiders finished the day under par in senior Tanner Owens, junior Ilari Saulo, and freshmen Michael Barnard and Steven Haremski, each finishing the day inside the Top 30.

"What a great day and round for the team today," Head Coach Mark McEntire said. "This one has been in the works for some time and I'm glad we finally put one together!"

Owens finds himself in a position that has become very familiar, currently tied for sixth in the field of 84 golfers after a stellar bogey-free round of 4-under par 68.

Saulo sits tied with his fellow upperclassman after an opening round 4-under par 68 of his own that featured a team-high six birdies, four of which came in his final five holes.

Barnard posted six birdies on the day as well, enough to give him a 1-under par scorecard and land him in a tie for 29^th after 18 holes.

Haremski, competing as an individual in the Bahamas, matched Barnard at 1-under on the day with five birdies on his scorecard.

Fellow rookie Mattias Varjun is one stroke behind Haremski at even par, and gives McEntire five Blue Raiders in the top half of the field as he sits tied for 41^st in the field of 84.

Sophomore Palmer Sadlowski battled a couple of tough holes on the day to a 6-over par finish, but wasn't to be outdone in the birdies category as he matched Owens with four on his scorecard.

"We got great rounds today from Ilari and Tanner," McEntire added. "They finally played well at the same time. Congratulations to Michael as well on his first under par round as a Blue Raider. Let's have some fun tomorrow and keep the momentum going!"

Round two will begin with another shotgun start at 7:00 a.m. CT, as the Blue Raiders begin their day on holes 5-7 alongside Arkansas and Wake Forest.

Live scoring of Saturday's round can be followed at Golfstat.com.

For all the latest information on Middle Tennessee Men's Golf, follow the #BlueRaiders on Facebook (@MTMensGolf), Twitter (@MT_MGolf) and Instagram (MT_MGolf).