The Murray State Racers began play Monday with the first 36 holes of the Big Blue Invitational hosted by Tennessee State University.
The Racers joined a field of 12 teams at the Hermitage Golf Club and finished the first day with a spot in third place.
Murray State’s scores of 303 and 295 gave them a 598, six shots from second place Detroit Mercy (590) and 11 from first place UT Martin (587). West Georgia (603), Tennessee State (603) and Evansville (604) rounded out the top-6 teams.
Austin Knight was MSU’s top player on the first day with a pair of par-72 rounds which put him in third place in the field of 68 players with a score of 144. Matthew Winder carded rounds of 75-74=149 and was in 13th place. Gabe Wheeler had scores of 78-74=152 and was in 23rd place, while Avery Edwards had a spot in 28th place on scores of 79-75=154. Matthew Zakutney had scores of 78-82=160 and was in 52nd place.
Justin Wendling is playing for the Racers as an individual and had a spot in 18th place on scores of 76-75=151 and was second among the eight solo competitors.
The President’s Preserve course is playing to a par-72 and at a length of 7,044 yards.
Tuesday’s final round will be a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
Match Notes
The Racers are trying for their a second-straight top-5 finish at the TSU event. A year ago they placed second with a score of 581 and placed one shot behind Belmont after rain cut the event to 36 holes. MSU won this title in back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012 as Cameron Carrico and Patrick Newcomb each won medalist honors.
Austin Knight has put himself into another spot to get a win, just like he did in Florida (March 26) at the Florida Atlantic event. Knight starts the day in a four-way tie for third place, three shots off the lead of Evansville’s Tyler Guy (71-70=141) and Tennessee State’s Jeremy Fultz (75-66=141).
Knight and Matthew Winder are tied for third place in the field each with 25 total pars.
West Georgia’s Samuel Jones led the field with 10 birdies in the first two rounds.
Dave Winder
Murray State Athletics – Assistant AD – Media Relations