April 13, 2008

Live Scoring! - Lamar tees off at 10:00 am CT

LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Lamar Cardinals will open play at the 45th Southland Conference Men's Golf Tournament on Monday in search of their third-consecutive title, their sixth in the last eight years and a conference-record 22nd overall championship.

The Cardinals will begin at Gray Plantation in the final five groups of the day, teeing off from 10:00 a.m. to 10:40 a.m., and paired with Sam Houston State and the last school other than Lamar to win a title, Texas-Arlington (in 2005).

The Cardinals will enter the 2008 event with a season scoring average of 294.31 and will use the same five players it has all season - Casey Clendenon, Justin Harding, Hugues Joannes, Russell Helson and Leroux Ferriera.

Clendenon - the reigning SLC Golfer of the Month and 2006 Player of the Year - is one of only two league players with five top-10 finishes including a first place tie at the Gopher Invitational. Each Cardinal in the lineup has posted a season-low score of 68 or better, the most among the ten conference members.

Lamar has a head-to-head record of 263-25, which is 28th in the nation. The Cardinals have only face two other SLC schools this year and has a 3-0 head-to-head record against them (2-0 vs. Texas State and 1-0 vs UTA).

While Lamar may be considered a heavy favorite based on its tradition and tournament success, there will be strong competition from a number of schools.

UTA enters with the lowest team scoring average, 288.72. The Mavs are led by Bobby Massa, who has the lowest single-round score in the SLC with a 64, and Michael Van de Venter and Zack Reeves, the October and November Golfer of the Month, respectively.

Sam Houston State ranks second in the SLC with five individual champions and is third with a 295.56 stroke average. Southeastern Louisiana is in search of its first team title since 2000and has claimed a conference best 13 top-10 finishes this year.

McNeese State (1977-79), Stephen F. Austin (1988, 91, 99) and Texas State (1989, 92, 97) are all looking to add to their SLC trophy cases. Nicholls State and UTSA enter seeking their first-ever titles, while Central Arkansas is eligible for the title in their second year of membership but ineligible for the NCAA Regionals should they win based on their transition from Division II to Division I.

Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com and lamarcardinals.com.

About Gray Plantation: Gray Plantation is an artfully landscaped 18-hole, 7,000-yard course designed to challenge the pro and amateur alike. 60 acres of lakes coming into play on 12 holes of veteran course architect Rocky Roquemore's Calcasieu River course which includes 94 bunkers and towering pines at most every turn. Particularly impressive are the club's four dynamic par 3s, two of which feature island greens.