Golf Leads Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic after First Day

First-Day Results \| Live Scoring

Team		Rounds				Score
		1	2	3	F
1.	Houston	291	284	---	575	+15
2.	St. Mary's (Calif.)	286	292	---	578	+18
3.	UT Arlington	295	286	---	581	+21
T4.	Minnesota	290	292	---	582	+22
T4.	Missouri	287	295	---	582	+22
6.	Notre Dame	287	296	---	583	+23
7.	Miami (Ohio)	290	299	---	589	+29
8.	Lamar	293	297	---	590	+30
9.	Eastern Michigan	296	297	---	593	+33
10.	San Francisco	297	297	---	594	+34
11.	Villanova	305	291	---	596	+36
12.	Georgetown	297	301	---	598	+38

Houston Leaders
		1	2	3	F
T5.	James Ross	72	70	--	142	+2
T11.	Wesley McClain	77	67	--	144	+4
22.	Bryn Flanagan	72	74	--	146	+6
T23.	Curtis Reed	74	73	--	147	+7
T30.	Roman Robledo	73	75	--	148	+8

Overall Leaders
		1	2	3	F
1.	Paul McConnell UT Arlington	71	68	--	139	-1
T2.	Andrew Carreon Notre Dame	72	68	--	140	E
T2.	Taylor Travis San Francisco	70	70	--	140	E
4.	Eric Grimberg St. Mary's (Calif.)	71	70	--	141	+1
T5.	James Ross Houston	72	70	--	142	+2
T5.	Jon Trasamar Minnesota	73	69	--	142	+2
T5.	Jared Dalga Eastern Michigan	72	70	--	142	+2
T5.	Ryan Zech Missouri	71	71	--	142	+2

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Houston golf team used a strong showing in the second round to move into first place following the first day at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic on Monday.

After finishing the first 18 holes with a score of 291 under cool, wet conditions, the Cougars posted the day's best team round with a 284 to stand at 575 through 36 holes. St. Mary's (Calif.) was a close second at 578, while UT Arlington (581), Minnesota (582), and No. 49 Missouri (582) rounded out the top-five team leaders.

"The biggest difference from the first round to the second round was that we took advantage of our opportunities and relaxed," head coach Jonathan Dismuke said.

The Cougars held as much as an 8-stroke advantage late in the second round on the 7,023-yard, par-70 Warren Course before faltering a bit down the stretch.

"We had a great round going in the afternoon, but we gave away a few shots at the end," Dismuke said. "But, we're not going to look back on that."

Junior James Ross, competing in only his second tournament as a Cougar, finished the first day at 142 to tie for fifth place. The Edinburgh, Scotland, was tied for the overall lead late but finished bogey-double bogey on his final two holes to fall in the standings.

Sophomore Wesley McClain showed the day's best improvement. After posting a disappointing 77 in the morning session, the Diboll, Texas, native posted the day's lowest round with a 67 to move into a tie for 11th place at 144.

With five birdies and only two bogeys in the afternoon round, he bettered his career low by two strokes and easily set a new season low for the Cougars.

"Any time you lead a tournament, you are going to have good individual performances," Dismuke said. "James gave us two really solid rounds, and Wes had a huge comeback."

It was a recent conversation with a Cougar student-athlete that may have aided McClain's second-round turnaround.

McClain and Dismuke recently talked with football senior quarterback Case Keenum. In the Cougars' 35-34 win at Louisiana Tech on Sept. 17, Keenum spearheaded a 27-point rally, the biggest comeback in school history.

"Case talked about how he handled that adversity, and he told us that it's never as bad as it seems, and it's never as good as it seems. That really resonated with Wes," Dismuke said. "Even though he had a tough first round, it didn't mean that he had to have a bad day, and Wes was determined to have a good day."

Making his season debut, sophomore Bryn Flanagan stood in 22nd place at 146, while sophomore Curtis Reed was tied for 23rd at 147. Freshman Roman Robledo was tied for 30th at 148.

UT Arlington's Paul McConnell stood atop the individual leaderboard at 139 and was the only player to shoot under par during the day. Notre Dame's Andrew Carreron and San Francisco's Taylor Travis were tied for second at even par, while St. Mary's Eric Grimberg was in fourth at 141.

Ross joined three other players at +2.

UP NEXT
The tournament wraps up with the final 18 holes Tuesday morning. The final round will be a split-tee start, beginning at 8:21 off the first tee and 8:15 a.m., off the 10th tee.

Fans can follow live scoring by visiting www.GolfStat.com and clicking the appropriate links or by clicking here.

Following the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic, the Cougars will take another break from competitive play before returning to action Oct. 16-18 at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.

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