BATON ROUGE — North Florida, ranked 16th in the GolfWeek/Sagarin national poll, was reeling after the first round Monday of the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate down in 10th place in the 18-team field.
But when the second round was posted, the Jacksonville-based university served notice that the pre-tournament favorite was going to be a factor, after posting a six-under par team afternoon round of 282. The 282 total was one shot off the tournament team record.
The Ospreys finished the 36 holes at 578, two-over par for the first 36-holes over the par-72 layout. That was five shots better than Alabama-Birmingham (289-294 — 593) in second.
“All four guys whose scores we counted improved in the afternoon,” said UNF coach John Brooks. “We’ve been playing well. We won last week and I think it’s carrying over. This is a rough course, but the weather was perfect. Conditions were much better than I expected when I woke up (Monday) morning at 5 a.m.”
The host Tigers had a good first day and put themselves in position to be a factor in this event as they look for their first CCLA win since 1993. LSU is at eight-over 584, one shot out of second and six shots out of the lead.
“Overall I thought we played pretty solid,” said first-year head coach Greg Jones. “We were sloppy finishing our rounds both in the morning and the afternoon. It seems we’ve got to learn to finish. It’s a habit I’ll try to break them out of (Tuesday).”
LSU will play in the final group for the first time in this event in the last couple of years, teeing off with North Florida and UAB beginning at 9:20 a.m.
“The quality of golf in this field is outstanding,” said Jones. “We’ve got to go in with all five players in good position with nine holes to go to do well.”
The team competition almost overshadowed the record-breaking individual play of Rhode Island junior Michael Sims. Sims opened with a three-under 69 in the morning round and then equaled the 18-hole tournament record with a six-under par 66 in the afternoon.
It marks the first time the tournament record has been equaled since 1995. The previous six-unders in the event were shots by Brian Bateman of LSU in 1994; Chris Couch of Florida in 1994; David Seawell of South Carolina in 1993 and Simon Cooke of Virginia in 1995.
Sims’ nine-under 36-hole total of 135 beat by three strokes the lowest previous two-round total of six-under 138 shot by Jamie Neher of Tennessee in 1994 and Cooke of Virginia in 1995. In fact, Josh Broadaway of Troy State equaled the six-under total on Monday with back-to-back 69s, but has to settle for second three shots back in the individual competition.
Sims will be shooting for the 54-hole tournament record which is nine-under par 207 set by Michael Connell of Mississippi State in 1996. In fact, in the first six years of the CCLA Intercollegiate only three golfers have posted 54-hole scores of more than four-under par.
“I just got on a roll,” said Sims. “The hole got bigger and bigger, and the ball just kept rolling in. The golf course is in great shape in light of the weather. The course was wet, but the greens are very firm.”
LSU’s top player is senior Jeremy Wilkinson, who stands in a tie for eighth-place at two-under 142 (70-72), with Michael Beckers in 12th at even-par 144.
Louisiana-Lafayette stands in 15th place in the team competition after shooting rounds of 300 and 298. Richard Ainley is the top Cajun golfer in a tie for 15th at one-over 145.
The final round begins with tee times at 8 a.m. and admission at CCLA is free.