The Cougars battled a poor start and inclement weather to finish the first day of the Rice Intercollegiate tournament tied for fourth place with Nebraska and Northern Colorado at 621.
With the wind gusting up to 20 miles per hour and early morning temperatures in the 30s, the Cougars finished the morning 18 holes with a mediocre score of 315.
“We started off poorly. It was a struggle from the get-go, but the guys did a good job with damage control and managed what they could,” first-year head coach Jonathan Dismuke said in a release.
As the day and the players warmed up, the Cougars used a nine-stroke improvement in the afternoon round, the third best of the day, to get back into contention when the 54-hole event concludes with the final 18 holes beginning at 8:15 a.m. today.
All but one of the Cougars in the tournament improved their scores in the afternoon round, led by junior Matt Eschenburg, who finished the day tied for 12th with a score of 153.
Last week’s C-USA Golfer of the Week, junior Clark Mitzner, finished tied for 27th with a score of 155, while redshirt freshman Joseph Reynolds ended the day in a tie for 37th at 157.
UH was rounded out by freshman Jordan Rumora (161, t-53rd) and senior Jackie Lindsey (163, t-59th).
“The team fought well today. It was a really tough day, and it never really warmed up, but I was proud of (our) guys for fighting through the conditions,” Dismuke said.
The Cougars next compete in the J.L. Lewis Intercollegiate, hosted by Texas State at Wolfdancer Golf Club in Lost Pines and the second of four Texas tournaments opening their spring season.
