UNT Golfers Wearing Out the SBC

UNTLifer · April 22, 2003

Golf: Mean Green surges to big Sun Belt lead

04/22/2003

Staff report

NICEVILLE, Fla. — The North Texas men’s golf team opened the Sun Belt Conference Championship in style by shooting a seven-under par 281 to hold a 10-stroke lead after the first day of competition. The Mean Green had four players shoot under par in the first round paced by Brad Besler, who fired a three-under 69 to end the day tied for the lead.

The leaderboard is packed with UNT golfers as the Mean Green have four of the top six after the first round of play. Thomas Kulcak shot an opening-round two-under par 70 thanks in part to a 33 on the back nine to sit in third place. Zach Atkinson and Freddy Espericueta both shot opening rounds of one-under par 71 to sit tied for fourth place.

The Denver Pioneers, the second-place team, is at 291 after the first day. The Mean Green are going after their first Sun Belt Conference Championship and their first conference title since 1999.

On the women’s side, true freshman Andra Lancaster had a sensational opening round of one-over par 73 to end the day just one shot behind the leader. Lancaster sits in second place alone, while senior Randi Gauthier is very much in the hunt after an opening day 75 to put her tied for sixth place.

As a team, UNT shot a first round score of 314 to place it in fourth after the first day. Defending conference champion New Mexico State is the overall team leader with a first-round score of 298.

The second round of play continues at 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Bluewater Bay Resort Golf Course.

SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIPS

North Texas Scores

Men

Place Golfer Score

T1 Brad Besler 35-34 — 69

3 Thomas Kulcak 37-33 — 70

T4 Zach Atkinson 37-34 — 71

T4 Freddy Espericueta 34-37 — 71

T22 Brad Gibson 41-35 — 76

Women

T2 Andra Lancaster 36-37 — 73

T6 Randi Gauthier 38-37 — 75

T26 Laura Rakel 39-44 — 83

T26 Jaclyn Golden 45-38 — 83

T41 Kasey Hardin 45-44 — 89

CMJ · April 22, 2003

Good stuff. We have more tradition in Gold than any other sport, by far.

A conference title in anything is terrific for the school IMHO.

UNTLifer · April 23, 2003

We added 4 strokes to our lead heading into the final round today.

Golf: UNT men lead by 14 strokes entering final day

04/23/2003

Staff report

NICEVILLE, Fla.— For the second consecutive day, the North Texas men’s golf team blistered the course at the Bluewater Bay and Resort to extend their lead at the Sun Belt Conference Championship to 14 strokes after two rounds.

The Mean Green fired a three-under par 285, powered by two rounds of 68 from Brad Besler and Zach Atkinson.

UNT sits at 566, ten-under par after two rounds of play. The closest competition to the Mean Green is Denver, which has a two-round score of 580.

Besler is the overall leader at seven-under par 137 after he followed up his first-round 69 with a tournament-best 68 in the second round.

Atkinson jumped to second place with his second-round score of 68 and sits just shots behind Besler for the tournament lead at a five-under par 139.

Freddy Espericueta is tied for eighth place at two-over par after firing a second-round 75. Thomas Kulcak and Brad Gibson are also both in the top 20. Kulcak fired a second-round 78 to drop to 15th place, and Gibson shot a second-round 74 to climb to 17th place overall.

On the women’s side, Randi Gauthier and Andra Lancaster remain in the top five after the second round of play. Gauthier and Lancaster both fired a second-round score of 75.

Lancaster sits in fourth place with a two-round total of 148, just five shots off the lead. Gauthier is at 150 after two rounds and is alone in fifth place, seven shots behind leader Alena Sharp of New Mexico State.

The UNT women remains in fourth place after shooting a second-day total of 313, one shot better than the first round. UNT is only two shots behind Denver for third and six shots behind second-place Arkansas-Little Rock. Defending champion New Mexico State is the overall leader after two rounds with a commanding 28-stroke lead heading into the final round.

The final round of the conference championship begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

North Texas Scores

Men

1. Brad Besler 69 68 137 -7

2. Zach Atkinson 71 68 139 -5

T8. Freddy Espericueta 71 75 146 +2

15. Thomas Kulcak 70 78 148 +4

T17. Brad Gibson 76 74 150 +6

Women

4. Andra Lancaster 73 75 148 +4

5. Randi Gauthier 75 75 150 +6

27. Laura Rakel 83 81 164 +20