April 25, 2011
Southland Conference Day One Results 
Southland Conference Second Round Tee Times
Southland Conference First Round Photo Gallery
By Art Garcia for UTAMavs.com
Fort Worth, Tex. - After the first round of the 2011 Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship, UT Arlington finds itself atop the leaderboard. That's exactly where the Mavericks expected to be, not that they're getting ahead of themselves.
An early lead can get blown away in the heavy winds that washed over Waterchase Golf Course on Monday if UTA doesn't stay on top of its game over the next two days. The Mavericks carded a plus-3, good enough for a four-shot lead over Lamar. Defending conference Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin are tied for the third at plus-8, while UTSA is fifth at plus-12.
"We met our goal," UTA coach Jay Rees said. "I talked to the guys last night, 'I don't want you to think about winning or losing. I don't want you to have any outcome thoughts. Our goal is the low round of the day.' And tomorrow our goal will be the low round of the day."
Team golf is based on individual performances, with the top four rounds used for scoring purposes. Ryan Werre of UTSA is the individual leader at 1 under par. The Mavericks had four in the top 14. UTA was the only school with at least three golfers tied for ninth or better.
Sophomores Hunter Brown and Paul McConnell are tied for second at even par. Zach Fischer, a senior and 2009 conference co-champ, is tied for ninth at plus-1 and senior Wes Worster (+2) is in group at 14th. Freshman Carson Kallis shot plus-9.
"I'm definitely in it for the team and want to help us reach our goal," said Brown, whose highest finished this year is tied for 16th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate. "If I finish high individually, I look at that as I played well to help the team.
"I think we've got ourselves in good position. We just have to go out tomorrow and play with the same mindset, and do it again on Wednesday."
The Mavericks certainly know what they're doing out there. Waterchase is UTA's home course and practice facility.
"We know this course," McConnell said, "especially if it starts blowing from the north, which it's supposed to tomorrow. We really know it when the wind is coming from any direction."
Fischer and Worster, UTA's two top-ranked golfers, both felt they left a few shots on the course. Fischer had five bogeys and five birdies, illustrating his wild day. Worster had four bogeys, but finished up with his second birdie on No. 18.
"We've got to be pleased with where we're at," Fischer said. "I could have done a lot better things today. I did some good things. It was up and down all day, but tomorrow it's supposed to be a little calmer and I think the scores will definitely go down. Maybe we'll shoot really low and run away with this thing."
Worster added: "It wasn't really going my way. I missed a couple of short putts, I didn't play the par-5s like I wanted to. I played them over par, which is never good on this course. It was tough in the wind getting club selections right. I was a going over some of the greens, which wasn't good where some of the pins where. Overall, I finished with a birdie and I'll come out tomorrow with a positive attitude."
Brown felt he was solid throughout the day, as 14 pars on his card point out. A bogey on No. 15 cost the Richardson native a sub-par round.
"I played real consistent," Brown said. "I had two birdies and two bogeys. I hit a lot of greens and moved along real calmly. I had it under par for most of the round. If I made a few more putts, it would have been lower, but overall it was a good round."
While Rees is pleased with the results after the first day, he realizes nothing has been decided. Lamar, Southeastern Louisiana, SFA and others still have time to make a move.
"There are a lot of teams that have the ability to put a good round together and get right back into the hunt," Rees said. "We have to do our job and do it as efficient as we can do it. If that happens and we make our objective, then we'll get to the top."
