HCU’s Pawlak holds individual lead; Colonels in the mix at LaTour Intercollegiate tourney

An extremely thick fog caused a delay of an hour, but once play began, players responded to near picture-perfect weather Monday on the first day of the LaTour Intercollegiate hosted by Nicholls and held at the LaTour Golf Club in Mathews.

“The players were unable to see, so we backed our starting time. We didn’t tee up until 9:30. We got a little bit later start once the fog burned off,” said Nicholls coach James Schilling, host of the event.

With Brooks Pawlak leading the way, Houston Christian University holds a one-shot lead over Southeastern Louisiana after the first day of play.

Pawlak shot an opening-round 67 and a 69 over the next 18 holes for a 136 total at -8. That helped HCU to also hold the team lead with a 564 total at -12.

Landen East of Southeastern Louisiana shot a 138 total at -6 to trail Pawlak by two strokes. It also helped the Lions to post a 565 total to trail HCU by one stroke.

Chase Pochylko and Diego Prat Cruza of Nicholls, each shot a 143 total to tie for 13th at -1. Pochylko shot an opening-round 71 and followed with a 72 on the second 18. Prat Cruza shot 70 in the first round and a 73 in the second round.

Also for Nicholls, Jack Moro shot a 145 to tie for 28th, while Zachary Morvant shot a 146 to tie for 31st and Mickael Najmark shot a 151 to tie for 41st in a field of 56 golfers.

“We got off to a slow start, based on the holes we started on. We didn’t really get off to the best start we could have,” Schilling said. “The players deserve a lot of credit. They really rallied. In the back half of that first round, Zack Morvant made four birdies in a row. He got on a roll coming back in. It was good to see.”

Following Houston Christian and SLU, the University of New Orleans was third in the team competition at 567. Stephen F. Austin followed with a 570 total, and the University of Incarnate Word rounded out the top five at 571.

Nicholls was sixth at 574. The Colonels shot an opening-round 283 to place third after one round.

“That was by far our low round of the year. It wasn’t even close,” Schilling pointed out.

The Nicholls coach said he was pleased with his team’s performance on the opening day of the tournament.

“It was a really good round for us. We were in second place at one point. That’s really good to see in a Division I field with a young team. Yes, it is your own course, but still you have to shoot the score,” Schilling said.

Rounding out the top 10 were Prairie View at 588, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas Southern at 604, and Mobile at 616.

With numerous Southland teams taking part in the event, the tournament’s opening day served as a barometer for how the Colonels might stack up in the conference, according to Schilling.

“Southeastern Louisiana was up there at the conclusion of the first round. It was fairly tight with Nicholls, then HCU. New Orleans didn’t play as well as they could have the first round, but they are definitely backing it up and coming back. They will be tough (Tuesday), said Schilling.

In individual play, Jake Smelser was in third place behind Pawlak and East with a 139 total at -5.

There was a five-way tie for fourth place. Cooper New of HCU, Joe Buenfeld of UIW, Kyle Bennett of UNO, Roy Barrera of HCU, and Mason Napier of HCU, all shot a 141 total at -3.

Three players tied for 10th place. Cameron Hubbard and Ryan Esparza, both of SFA, and Hunter Ramirez of Prairie View, all shot a 142 total at -2.

Because of fog concerns, Tuesday’s shotgun start has been pushed back to 9 a.m.

Monday’s competition was played with little wind. A potential stronger wind on Tuesday, coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures, Schilling said, could change results over the final 18 holes.

“So much depends on the conditions. It really varies from day to day. It’s so warm (Monday), the greens are actually growing. You are seeing the putting surface actually getting slower because the grass is actually growing. We’re up fairly close to 90 degrees, which is really odd for this time of year.”

The totals produced by the Colonels on Monday were much better than they had been in previous outings

“The results we are getting, they’re not good enough, and we had to improve,” Schilling said. “I give all the credit to the players, they have really worked hard this past couple of weeks since Arkansas State (at the Bubba Barnett Invitational), they really have.”