Senators in 11th after first day at Big Blue

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. — Walters State fired two sub-300 rounds on Monday on the opening day of the Big Blue Intercollegiate, hosted by Tennessee State University at the Hermitage Golf Club President's Reserve, to end a long, rainy day in 11th place in a loaded 14-team field.

Playing against 12 NCAA teams and one other NJCAA junior college team, the Senators enter the final round with a chance for a top 10 finish after posting rounds of 297 and 298 to end the day at 27-over par 595.

Tennessee Tech leads the field with a team score of 5-under par 563, while Wright State is second at 569. UT-Martin and Longwood are tied for third at 570, while the host Tennessee State rounds out the top five at 576. Murray State leads the next five at 577, while Detroit Mercy and Evansville are tied for seventh at 581, Green Bay is ninth at 587 and North Dakota rounds out the top 10 at 590.

WSCC is 11th, followed by fellow junior college program John A. Logan (601), Arkansas Pine-Bluff (604) and Chicago State (631) in the team standings.

Alex Hodge paced the Senators in the opening round, firing back-to-back scores of 1-over 72 to end the day tied for 19th place at 2-over 144. Andrew Linkous was next for WSCC in a tie for 49th place after posting a 36-hole score of 149 (72-77), while Dane Rheinecker is tied for 56th place at 152 (79-73) and Hunter Blanken (77-76) is tied for 63rd with teammate Stephen Owen (76-77) after both posted 153 for the opening day.

Tennessee Tech's Bryce Beeler leads the individual field at 5-under par 137 (68-69), as there were a total of 12 players under par for the first 36 holes.

The final round will be played on Tuesday.