Owens in second thru 18 holes in Louisiana

Sunday, September 15

Choudrant, LA

All Day

Middle Tennessee

Jim Rivers Intercollegiate

9/15/2019 6:35:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: @MTAthletics

Round 1 Results
Round 2 Pairings

CHOUDRANT, La. – With 18 holes behind them and 36 still to go, the Blue Raiders have some ground to make up after an opening round score of 7-over par 295 in the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate.

Middle Tennessee took an early lead after an eagle from senior Tanner Owens and a birdie from freshman Michael Barnard to start things off, but a 5-over mark on the back nine dropped Head Coach Mark McEntire's squad into a tie for eighth at the end of play on Sunday.

"We have to do a better job tomorrow on the par 5 holes," McEntire stated. "They are where you can make a move and we did not play them well enough today, but I really like this team!"

Owens finished with a very strong round on the day, turning in a 3-under par 69 in the season's inaugural round to stand in a 4-way tie for second just two strokes back of the individual leader.

"That was great playing today from Tanner," McEntire added. "He had a great summer and has carried it into the fall."

Junior Ilari Saulo, coming off of a medical redshirt season, logged a 2-over par 74 in his first competitive round back on the course to land inside the 40.

Barnard and fellow freshman Mattias Varjun finished their Blue Raider debut rounds at 4-over 76 while sophomore Palmer Sadlowski turned in a 5-over 77.

Freshman Gavin Clements, playing at Squire Creek as an individual, carded a stellar 1-under par 71 in his collegiate debut and is tied for 12^th in the field of 84 golfers.

The Blue Raiders find themselves 15 strokes off the lead entering Monday's second round and are tied with the Troy Trojans (+7) and within six strokes of Conference USA foes LA Tech (+1) and UAB (+3).

Round two begins for Middle Tennessee with Sadlowski teeing off on the first hole at 8:50 a.m., followed by Varjun, Barnard, Saulo and Owens in 10-minute intervals.

Clements, boasting the second best score among the 14 individual competitors, will go off at 11:20 a.m.

Live scoring of Monday's second 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).