Trojans Struggle In Final Round at USM

Sunday, September 12

Hattiesburg, MS

Troy University

+35 / 887

University of Southern Mississippi

9/14/2010 5:34:12 PM | Golf (M)

By: Ricky Hazel

TOURNAMENT RESULTS: PDF | HTML

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After getting off to a solid start in the first tournament of the 2010-11 season, the Troy University men's golf team limped home on Tuesday, finishing 15th in the Sam H. Hall Intercollegiate at Hattiesburg Country Club.

The event was hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi and was won by Kennesaw State with a team score of 13-under par. The Owls' Jeff Karlsson took individual medalists honors in the event for a second straight year. He fired a final round score of 6-under par 65 on Tuesday to hold off Derek Plucienski of the host Golden Eagles.

The Trojans finished at 35-over par as a team in the 15-team tournament, 48 shots behind the winning team.

“I am extremely disappointed,” Trojans coach Matt Terry said. “We have to go back to the drawing board. We didn't hit enough fairways or enough greens. It is a tight golf course, very tree lined, and when you spray the ball the way we did, you have no chance to score well.”

The Trojans' best performer was sophomore Kyle Blackston (Elizabethtown, Ky.), who shot a one-under par 70 in Tuesday's final round. Blackston finished tied for 40th in the tournament with a four-over par score of 217.

“Kyle played much better today,” Terry said. “He figured something out with his swing four or five holes into the second round and played much better the rest of the way.”

The Trojans have time to work on their problems before competing again. The teams' next tournament is the Louisiana Tech/Squire Creek Invitational October 3-5.

“We have a lot of work to do before we play again,” Terry said. “We will have to hit the ball much better at Louisiana Tech because that is a tough course.”