Tulsa
WAC Championships
Tulsa in Second Place at WAC Championships
4/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 30, 2001
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma - The nation's 12th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs grabbed the first round lead at the 2001 Western Athletic Conference Championships on Monday at Forest Ridge Golf Club. TCU scored a 291 for a two-stroke lead over second-place Tulsa. The Hurricane scored a 293, followed by third-place UTEP's 296
Rounding out the team scores were fourth-place Fresno State's 299, SMU's 301, San Jose State's 304, Nevada's 305, Hawaii at 307 and Rice at 311.
Individually, TCU senior Scott Volpitto turned in the day's best round with a three-under par 69. Volpitto birdied holes 1, 3, 5 and 9 to take a four-under par 32 on the front nine. He double-bogeyed the par-4 12th hole for his lone hole over par.
"The round went good. The first nine wasn't bad, but the back nine picked up because of the wind. It was tougher on the back side. I birdied, 1, 3, 5, 9 and 10, and doubled 12," said Volpitto." "On 12, I hit a three-wood and pulled it left, losing it in the woods. I putted well today and made some 20-30 footers. I hit irons and three woods on the tee's today. I just wanted to put it in play."
"I was very pleased how we played today. This was the first time any of us had seen the course before," said Bill Montigel, TCU head coach. "It was easy to make a double bogey with the kind of conditions today. You have to hit some quality shots."
Fresno State sophomore Nick Watney is in second-place with a two-under par 70. He got off to a solid start with a three-under par 33 on the front nine, but scored a one-over par 37 on the back side. Watney scored birdies on the 520-yard par 5 fifth hole, and completed the first nine holes with birdies on holes eight and nine.
The Hurricane was led by sophomore Billy Lowry's even-par 72, while senior Shawn Matthews and junior Kevin Henry each scored one-over par 73s today for fifth-place. Lowry is in a third-place tie with Fresno State's Jonathon Echols. In addition, Tulsa freshmen David Inglis and Chris Noel carded rounds of 75 and 76, respectively.
Lowry carded three birdies, two on the back nine after three bogey's on the first eight holes. "Once I adjusted to the wind, I started feeling more confident. I was picking the right club and having success," said Lowry, who played in the number five slot today for the Hurricane.
Competition will continue with 18 holes on Wednesday morning. The first tee time is 8:00 a.m.
