Troy University Athletics
Monday, April 24
Madison, Miss.
All Day
Troy University
vs
Sun Belt Championship
Troy, Scott Lead Following Day One of Sun Belt Men’s Golf Championship
4/24/2023 4:17:00 PM | Golf (M)
MADISON, Miss. – Troy was the lone team to shoot under-par in Monday's opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championship at the Annandale Golf Club. The Trojans were paced by a 5-under 67 from sophomore Brantley Scott, who is the individual leader after 18 holes.
"That was a solid start and exactly what we were looking for," head coach Forrest Schultz said. "I told the guys before the round to just stay patient and that this tournament is a marathon and not a sprint. We got off to a decent start, made a few bogeys in the middle, and then Brantley got hot, McFadden made an eagle, and Jason had a heck of a back nine. Everyone's watching the leaderboard and feeding off each other."
Troy, which opened the day on No. 10, carded four birdies through the first six holes of the day, with three coming off the clubs of Nicklas Borrmann. The Trojans made the turn even as a team and played the back nine (holes one thru nine) at four under as a team, thanks to a 31 from Scott and 33 from Jason Quinlan.
Both eagles came on par-5 holes where Scott hit to within five feet from 211 yards out on the fifth and to within 11 feet with a 7-iron on the seventh. Sandwiched in the middle was a chip-in birdie on the sixth after his approach went off the back of the green.
"If he can get hot, he can get really hot," Schultz said of Scott. "Brantley said that he felt like he was stuck in neutral and then made that one swing, and that got him going. When Brantley is in the zone, he is hard to beat."
Troy tied for fifth in the field with 14 birdies as a team but made up for it with a field-best three eagles – two from Scott and one from Will McFadden. The Trojans also limited the bad outcomes with just 20 bogeys across its five golfers, with no holes costing them more than one stroke. The Trojans were the only team in the field not to have a multi-stroke bogey on the day.
Scott holds a 1-shot lead over South Alabama's Hugo Thyr on the individual leaderboard, while Troy is 4-shots up on Louisiana on the team leaderboard. Southern Miss is five shots back of the Trojans in third, while South Alabama and Texas State are tied for fourth at 3-over (Troy is 4-under), and No. 26 Georgia Southern is in sixth place at 5-over par.
The top four teams following Wednesday's third round of stroke play will advance to match play on Thursday.
"I told the guys that today should be the hardest day since it's been two weeks since we last played," Schultz said. "We were very anxious to hit the course, almost felt like we had cabin fever, so to come out on top was huge. We just have to keep the turtle mindset tomorrow – just finish the race and take our time."
Borrmann is tied for sixth place after shooting 1-under on the day with four birdies and three bogeys. He bounced back from a bogey on the eighth to card a 3 on the par-4 ninth to push his card into the red for the day.
McFadden and Quinlan finished the day tied for 17th place at 1-over par after McFadden had the eagle and a birdie, while Quinlan rebounded from a 4-over on the front nine to shoot 3-under over the final nine holes. Jake Springer is tied for 42nd place at 4-over after he finished the day on a high note with a birdie on the ninth.
Troy will be paired with Louisiana and Southern Miss for Tuesday's second round, which gets underway at 8:30 a.m.
Team Standings
1. Troy 284, 2. Louisiana 288, 3. Southern Miss 289, T4. Texas State 291, T4. South Alabama 291, 6. Georgia Southern 293, 7. James Madison 294, 8. Coastal Carolina 295, T9. Georgia State 297, T9. App State 297, 11. ULM 298, 12. Arkansas State 304, T13. Old Dominion 307, T13. Marshall 307
Troy Individuals
1. Brantley Scott 67, T6. Nicklas Borrmann 71, T17. Will McFadden 73, T17. Jason Quinlan 73, T42. Jake Springer 76
"That was a solid start and exactly what we were looking for," head coach Forrest Schultz said. "I told the guys before the round to just stay patient and that this tournament is a marathon and not a sprint. We got off to a decent start, made a few bogeys in the middle, and then Brantley got hot, McFadden made an eagle, and Jason had a heck of a back nine. Everyone's watching the leaderboard and feeding off each other."
Troy, which opened the day on No. 10, carded four birdies through the first six holes of the day, with three coming off the clubs of Nicklas Borrmann. The Trojans made the turn even as a team and played the back nine (holes one thru nine) at four under as a team, thanks to a 31 from Scott and 33 from Jason Quinlan.
Scott shot in the 60s for the 10th time in 28 rounds this season thanks to an amazing run of four holes from the fourth to the seventh, where he carded two birdies and two eagles to run his card from 1-over to 5-under in the blink of an eye.Brantley Scott shoots 5-under on the back nine and is the clubhouse leader at the @SunBelt Championship!#SharpenTheSword | #OneTROY ⚔️⛳️ pic.twitter.com/0S324SXMtc
— Troy Men's Golf (@TroyTrojansMG) April 24, 2023
Both eagles came on par-5 holes where Scott hit to within five feet from 211 yards out on the fifth and to within 11 feet with a 7-iron on the seventh. Sandwiched in the middle was a chip-in birdie on the sixth after his approach went off the back of the green.
"If he can get hot, he can get really hot," Schultz said of Scott. "Brantley said that he felt like he was stuck in neutral and then made that one swing, and that got him going. When Brantley is in the zone, he is hard to beat."
Troy tied for fifth in the field with 14 birdies as a team but made up for it with a field-best three eagles – two from Scott and one from Will McFadden. The Trojans also limited the bad outcomes with just 20 bogeys across its five golfers, with no holes costing them more than one stroke. The Trojans were the only team in the field not to have a multi-stroke bogey on the day.
Scott holds a 1-shot lead over South Alabama's Hugo Thyr on the individual leaderboard, while Troy is 4-shots up on Louisiana on the team leaderboard. Southern Miss is five shots back of the Trojans in third, while South Alabama and Texas State are tied for fourth at 3-over (Troy is 4-under), and No. 26 Georgia Southern is in sixth place at 5-over par.
The top four teams following Wednesday's third round of stroke play will advance to match play on Thursday.
"I told the guys that today should be the hardest day since it's been two weeks since we last played," Schultz said. "We were very anxious to hit the course, almost felt like we had cabin fever, so to come out on top was huge. We just have to keep the turtle mindset tomorrow – just finish the race and take our time."
Borrmann is tied for sixth place after shooting 1-under on the day with four birdies and three bogeys. He bounced back from a bogey on the eighth to card a 3 on the par-4 ninth to push his card into the red for the day.
McFadden and Quinlan finished the day tied for 17th place at 1-over par after McFadden had the eagle and a birdie, while Quinlan rebounded from a 4-over on the front nine to shoot 3-under over the final nine holes. Jake Springer is tied for 42nd place at 4-over after he finished the day on a high note with a birdie on the ninth.
Troy will be paired with Louisiana and Southern Miss for Tuesday's second round, which gets underway at 8:30 a.m.
Team Standings
1. Troy 284, 2. Louisiana 288, 3. Southern Miss 289, T4. Texas State 291, T4. South Alabama 291, 6. Georgia Southern 293, 7. James Madison 294, 8. Coastal Carolina 295, T9. Georgia State 297, T9. App State 297, 11. ULM 298, 12. Arkansas State 304, T13. Old Dominion 307, T13. Marshall 307
Troy Individuals
1. Brantley Scott 67, T6. Nicklas Borrmann 71, T17. Will McFadden 73, T17. Jason Quinlan 73, T42. Jake Springer 76
Players Mentioned
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