Rough first day at Regional

ATLANTA – Junior Jamie Marshall shot one-over-par to lead the University of Arkansas men’s golf team on the first day of the NCAA Atlanta Regional on Thursday, pacing the Razorbacks to a 16-over-par day and in 11th position after 18 holes.

Marshall shot even par on the back nine, where the Razorbacks began Thursday’s competition and was one-over-par for the front nine to place himself in a tie for 13th in the individual standings, three strokes off the pace of the clubhouse leaders, which is currently a four-way tie at two-under par.

"We didn’t play our best golf today," Arkansas head coach Brad McMakin said. "We left a lot of shots out there and gave ourselves a lot of room to make up. We still have 36 holes to play so I feel like we can get back in it. Jamie had a very good day and made a lot of quality shots."

The Razorbacks sit seven strokes off the pace of the top five teams in the competition, a place where they need to finish should they wish to make another magical run at the NCAA Championships. No. 1 Oklahoma St. leads the way at two-over-par followed by No. 19 Clemson and host Georgia Tech at three over and seven over, respectively. Georgia Southern and BYU compete the top five teams at eight- and nine-over par.

Marshall’s solid score was more to his consistency than anything else. The Castle Rock, Colo., native birdied two par four holes, one on the front nine and one on the back and carded three bogeys to finish at one over. Marshall even drained a couple of longer putts that helped his score as the Razorbacks navigated tough pin placements and solid greens that made it difficult for any players to land a ball on the green and make it stick.

Senior David Lingmerth had a very good round of his own going as he shot even par on his first nine holes with a birdie and bogey. His second nine holes were not as good as he shot four-over par including bogeys on three of his final four holes. Disappointed with his round, the Tranas, Sweden native took a short break before heading out to the practice range with his teammates to get a better feel for the greens.

Freshman Austin Cook had a near disastrous first nine holes, but settled in at his first NCAA Regional competition to shoot five-over par. Cook was even through two before two bogeys and a double bogey ballooned his score to four-over par. A birdie and bogey on the next two holes kept him at four-over par, but just a single bogey over his final nine holes and six straight holes of par completed his round.

Senior Dalton Owens and freshman Josh Eure each shot six-over par on the day to complete the Razorback scoring. Owens hit two birdies and eight bogeys for his score, while Eure, like his freshman teammate, battled a tough opening nine holes. Eure fired two birdies, six bogeys and a double bogey on the day.

With rain in the forecast for Friday, tournament officials moved the start time up 30 minutes to 7:30 a.m. The Razorbacks may have to fight rain and wind as they claw their way back into the top five, teeing off at 8:20 with players from Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss.