Stephen F. Austin
Sea Best Invitational
Lumberjacks Sit 14th After Day One at Sea Best Invitational
2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
2016 Sea Best Invitational
TPC at Sawgrass | Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Result: SFA is 14th after the opening two rounds (40-over 600)
Top Performer: Nathan Weant is tied for 40th individually (8-over 148)
Final Round: Tuesday, February 2nd | 7:00 a.m. CT
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Stephen F. Austin began the spring portion of its 2015-16 schedule Monday, competing in the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The Lumberjacks posted a 40-over 600 through the opening two rounds, sitting 14th among the 15-team field.
SFA posted a pair of 20-over 300 rounds in its first action since October and were competitive in the par-threes, sitting third among the field with a 2.95 average, shooting 2-under through the opening 36 holes. But the Lumberjacks struggled on the longer holes, sitting 13th in par-five average (5.30) and last on the par-fours (4.53).
The Lumberjacks started off the tournament with a 3-over 73 from freshman Angelo Leyvani and a 4-over 74 from senior Nathan Weant in the morning round. Junior Major Monzingo added a 5-over 75 with senior Luke Sheehan posting an 8-over 78.
The Lumberjacks duplicated their performance from the morning in the afternoon round, shooting a 20-over 300 and paced by Sheehan’s 1-over 71. Weant mirrored his opening round 74 with Monzingo posting a 76 and junior Baxter Ward adding a 9-over 79.
Through the opening two rounds, Weant sits atop the Lumberjack scorecard with an 8-over 148 and was the lone Lumberjack to be efficient on the par-fives, sitting at 2-under with a 4.50 average. Sheehan (9-over 149) trails Weant by one stroke and was the top SFA golfer on par-threes, sitting at 3-under with a 2.63 average through the first 18 holes. Monzingo (11-over 151) is three shots back of Weant with Leyvani (18-over 158) and Ward (22-over 162) rounding out the SFA competitors.
SFA will have some work to do in Tuesday’s final round as the Lumberjacks hold an 8-shot lead on 15th-place USC Upstate (48-over 608) and will need some low numbers if it wants to move up the team standings. SFA currently is nine shots back of 13th-place Jacksonville State (31-over 591) and is 10 strokes behind 12th-place Charleston Southern (30-over 590).
After the opening two rounds, Florida holds a commanding lead over the rest of the field, shooting a 17-under 543 and lead second-place North Carolina (2-over 562) by 19 strokes heading into the final 18 holes. Liberty (9-over 569), North Florida (14-over 574) and Texas A&M (15-over 575) round out the top-five with fellow Southland Conference member McNeese State sitting tied for 10th (24-over 584).
Tuesday’s final round gets underway at 7:00 a.m. CT as the Lumberjacks will be among the first group to tee off from hole 10. Paired with Jacksonville State and USC Upstate, Ward will be the first ‘Jack to tee off, leading up to Weant’s 7:36 a.m. CT tee time. Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com with full results posted at SFAJacks.com as they become available.
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