Late surge lifts Raiders on day one at The Hootie

Sunday, March 24

Awendaw, SC

All Day

Middle Tennessee

Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate

3/24/2019 4:45:00 PM | Men's Golf

MT goes 12-under par in final six holes

By: @MTAthletics

Round 1 Results

AWENDAW, S.C. – A lethargic start to the opening round of the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate saw the Blue Raiders slide down the leaderboard early on Sunday. They came charging back late in the day, however, as an eagle by senior James Beckner on the Par 5 sixth hole led his squad to a 12-under par mark in the final six holes to put them back in the mix.

Middle Tennessee's 12-under mark on holes four through nine was easily the best of the day at Bulls Bay Golf Club, with host South Carolina the next best putting up an 8-under mark on the same holes.

"What a back 9 from this team today," head coach Mark McEntire exclaimed. "They really showed some fight and I am proud of them! At one point I looked up and we were 15 over par with 8 holes to play. Then we just started to make some birdies and finished with a solid round."

Freshman Palmer Sadlowski carded five birdies in his final six holes to account for nearly half of the 12 strokes below par down the stretch as Middle Tennessee, who shot a 1-over par 289 on the day, climbed climbed ahead of NC State (+3) and Kentucky (+3).

The Blue Raiders also sit tied with Purdue (+1) and just one stroke back of defending champion Ole Miss (E).

Senior Marcus Byrd logged the best score of the day for the Blue Raiders as his 2-under par 70 puts him in a tie for 14^th through 18 holes in South Carolina.

Sophomore Cooper Sears, who tallied four birdies in the final six holes for a 4-under mark after the turn, finished the opening round at even par (72) and tied for 31^st.

Beckner's eagle late in the day lifted him to 1-over par (73) on the day and has him in a tie for 40^th place.

Sadlowski's scorching hot finish has him one stroke back of Beckner and Sears at 2-over par (74) whils junior Tanner Owens turned in a 6-over par 78 on Sunday.

Middle Tennessee enters Monday's second round with plenty of momentum as the Blue Raiders are now just four strokes back of the fifth place team and within 10 strokes of the pace set by Missouri and South Carolina.

"I wish we could have kept playing today because we had it going," McEntire added. "I look for this to continue tomorrow to see if we can move up the board!"

MT will tee off at 11:30 a.m. ET Monday alongside NC State and Kentucky.

Live scoring can be followed at BirdieFire.com.