Razorbacks Take First Round Lead

HUMBLE, Texas – Coming off a second place finish just five days ago at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, the Arkansas men’s golf team carried that momentum into the start of the Bayou City Collegiate Championships held at the Golf Club of Houston by taking the first round lead on Friday.

Keyed by three players at even-par or lower, the Razorbacks, who moved up 13 spots to No. 38 in the recent Golfstat rankings, were the only team to shoot even-par with a four-man 288 through 25-30 mph winds and cold conditions. Arkansas owns a two-stroke lead over No. 9 South Carolina.

Saturday’s pairings will be the same as the first round due to teams returning to the course immediately after Friday’s round to start the second round. The start of the second round was moved up due to bad weather in the forecast for Saturday. The second round will resume on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and if weather permits, teams will begin the third round immediately after.

Arkansas was led by juniors Taylor Moore and Kolton Crawford who both carded one-under 71s to sit in a tie for second place in the 87-player field. The reigning SEC Golfer of the Week, Moore closed his round with back-to-back birdies to give him five on the day, good for the second-most in the field. Crawford’s round was highlighted by three birdies over a six-hole span on holes 8-13. Both Moore and Crawford finished in the top five last weekend at the Gator Invitational.

Redshirt sophomore Zach Coats made it three Razorbacks in the top 10 with an even-par 72. Sitting in a tie for ninth place after the first day, Coats played bogey-free golf over his final 11 holes in the first round and tied with freshman Alvaro Ortiz for the team lead with 14 pars. Ortiz was Arkansas final counting score of the day with a solid two-over 74 in which he played the final seven holes one-under.

McMakin Post-Round Sound
“I’m proud of the guys. Conditions were very tough and they handled the adversity all day. It’s great to see our play from the last tournament carry over to the start of this weekend.”

@RazorbackMGolf Lineup 
T2. Taylor Moore – 71 (-1)
T2. Kolton Crawford – 71 (-1)
T9. Zach Coats – 72 (E)
T30. Alvaro Ortiz – 74T
81. Nicolas Echavarria – 81
T69. Emil Soegaard – 78 – Individual

Bayou City Collegiate Championships Standings (Golfstat Ranking) 
1. Arkansas (38) – 288 (E)
2. South Carolina (9) – 290
3. Charlotte – 291
4. Houston (30) – 293
T5. McNeese State – 294
T5. UTSA – 294
T5. Troy – 2948. Sam Houston State – 295
9. Baylor (8) – 297
10. New Mexico State – 298
11. Lamar – 299
12. Louisiana – 301
13. Southeastern Louisiana – 302
14. Rice – 304
15. Northern Illinois – 311