Madison, WI – Austin Peay State University men’s golf team is tied for sixth place after Day 1 of the Badger Invitational, being played at the University Ridge Golf Course.
The Governors shot an opening-round 2-over 290 on the par 7,259-yard course to sit eight strokes behind South Carolina.
USC Upstate is four shots back at 286 while Xavier, Missouri-Kansas City and Illinois State all are at 287, three shots ahead of the Governors and Big 12 member Kansas. Host Wisconsin is in 11th place after an opening-round 295 in the 14-team tournament.“We played OK today, not great,” APSU coach Kirk Kayden said. “We were close to having a pretty solid round. We understand some of the mistakes we made. We just have to do a better job of executing our shots.
“The conditions were ideal—low 70s and no wind. There are no excuses from that standpoint.”
Marco Iten, who is tied for third individually, had the Govs only sub-par round with a 2-under 70 while fellow senior Anthony Bradley was at even-par 72. Sophomore Austin Kramer came in at 1-over 73 while the Govs’ other counter was senior Trey Tarpley, who shot a 3-over 75. Sophomore Chris Baker came in at 4-over 76.
“Marco had a really solid round,” Kayden said. “He made a really good par on the last hole—we finished on No. 9 today. He had a nice up and down from about 10 feet. He played smart all the way around and managed his game well.
“Anthony was not pleased with his round. He made a double on his last hole. But all these guys are confident they can go low on this course after we have seen it now a couple of times.”
Kayden especially was pleased with Kramer, who survived a mini-qualifier, Thursday, again to be a part of the traveling team. Kramer shot an APSU best 72, Tuesday, in the final round of the Cardinal Intercollegiate.
“Austin had a pretty good round,” Kayden said. “He was sick today—didn’t get much sleep last night—and hung in there to play a real solid round—a 1-over 73. I was really proud of him.
The Governors will resume play in the 54-hole tourney with a 9:00am shotgun start Monday.
The tourney will conclude Tuesday. This is the first Wisconsin-hosted tourney since the Badgers held the Big 10 championship in 2005.
Box Score
2013 Badger Invitational
University Ridge Golf Course
Verona, WI
Badger Men’s Invitational
Dates: September 29th-October 1st
Finish | School – Players | Round 1 |
2 | Austin Peay State University | 290 |
T 3 | Marco Iten (2) | 70 |
T 18 | Anthony Bradley (1) | 72 |
T 27 | Austin Kramer (5) | 73 |
T 45 | Trey Tarpley (4) | 75 |
T 52 | Chris Baker (3) | 76 |