Marshall goes low Razorbacks fifth

AUSTIN, Texas – Senior Jamie Marshall was one of five players to break par on the final round of the Morris Williams Intercollegiate, shooting a one-under par 70 to pace the University of Arkansas men’s golf team to a fifth-place team finish.

Arkansas began the day in sixth place in the team standings, but improved its score with a tournament best 293 on the final day to finish at 886, 34-over par and just eight strokes off Georgia, who won the event at 26-over-par, 878. The host Texas, who came into the day with the lead, finished second at 27-over-par followed by Texas A&M, 31-over-par, and Texas Tech, 32-over-par.

"I thought that we played really well," Arkansas head coach Brad McMakin said. "We finished eight strokes back, but were 15 ahead of Oklahoma State and they are No. 1 in the country. The wind was really blowing hard the last two days and that made it really tough to play. I am happy with the result and hopefully this will give us some confidence going into the SEC Championships in a couple of weeks. We have had three good tournaments in a row and if we play like this at the SEC Championships we’ll have a chance."

Marshall’s day started well as he birdied his opening hole, but a pair of bogeys on four and six placed him at one over before he went back to even par with a birdie on seven. Marshall’s back nine saw him birdie both par five holes, but bogeys on the next holes kept him at par until 16th where he shot a two on the par three hole. Marshall moved from a tie for 32nd at the start of the day to a tie for eighth with his three-round score of 220, seven-over-par and eight strokes behind the tournament champion, Harris English of Georgia.

Fellow senior David Lingmerth produced a consistent tournament for the Razorbacks as his final round, 73, allowed him to also finish with a total score of 220, seven-over-par and tied for eighth. Lingmerth opened the competition with a 73, shot 74 in the second round and used two birdies and four bogeys to finish two over for the final round. Lingmerth had a tough start with three bogeys in his first five holes, but settled in to hit 11 pars over his next 12 holes and finished the round with a birdie on the par four 18th. Lingmerth’s top 10 finish is his ninth in 11 tournaments this season.

Senior Dalton Owens shot his third consecutive 75 on the University of Texas Golf Course to finish at 225 for the tournament and tied for 26th overall. Owens hit six bogeys in the round but fired up the gallery with an eagle on the par four13th to help his score. His eagle was one of just six in the tournament which included 84 players, 251 rounds and more than 4,500 holes played. Owens was matched on the day by freshman Josh Eure who rebounded from a dreadful second round to shoot 75 and finish at 227, tied for 37th. Eure shot par through the first seven holes of the day, but four bogeys in his round led to his final score.