ORLANDO, Fla.—Austin Peay State University’s showed the remnants of tournament inactivity during the first round of the Harmony Golf Preserve Intercollegiate, Monday.

Playing in their first competitive round since late October, the Governors shot a seven-over 295 to sit in fourth place, nine shots off the 286 pace set by Virginia Commonwealth and Florida Atlantic, which shot rounds of 2-under par. Florida Gulf Coast is third, one shot ahead of the Govs.

“You could tell we were a little rusty today,” APSU coach Kirk Kayden said. ““We didn’t take advantage of the par 5s, which we usually are really good at. We are going to need to improve that.”

Junior Marco Iten was the only Governor to crack par, Monday, with a two-under 70, tying him for second place behind VCU’s Adam Ball, who shot a 68. Iten No. 4 and No. 15, both par 4, along with the par 5 No. 16. His only bogey came on No. 11.

“Marco really well today,” Kayden said. “He made a lot of nice birdies. He just really played well, hitting a lot of fairways and greens. It was just a solid performance and he literally kept us in this.”

Anthony Bradley should be able to take momentum back to the course Tuesday as he closed with a birdie on 18 to allow him to finish at 2-over 74.

Sophomore Tucker Wallace mixed in a par of birdies to go with three bogeys and one double go come in at 3-over 75. The three other Govs, senior Dustin Korte, redshirt freshman Corey Smith and freshman Chris Baker all ended at 4-over par 76.

“There are two more rounds to make up some ground,” Kayden said. “To do that we are going to have bring a little more focus and play a little bit better tomorrow to get back in this thing.

“If we can cut into that lead tomorrow, it will give us a chance on Wednesday. We just need to open better tomorrow…second rounds typically have been our better rounds.”

The Governors will tee off at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, on the Hickory Golf Preserve par-72, 7,200 layout. The final round will be played Wednesday.



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