Sept. 12, 2011

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Memphis men's golf team opened the fall season Monday, playing two rounds at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate hosted by Southern Mississippi. Through 36 holes, the Tigers sit in fifth place at -4, just one stroke behind UAB.

"We didn't play very well in the first round, but we're proud of the way we played in the second round," said Memphis head coach Grant Robbins. "We got some momentum with our second round, and we like the position that we're in headed into tomorrow. We just need all five guys to contribute."

Memphis got off to a slow start on the day, going three over as a team in the first round. Senior Jonathan Fly was the lone Tiger to shoot under par for the round at -2 but experienced some ups and downs on the course with three bogeys and five birdies overall. Junior Lexus Keoninh and redshirt freshman Alex Hoffman each posted rounds of +1 with Keoninh tallying two birdies and Hoffman carding three. Senior Jack Belote rounded out the first-round Tiger scores at three strokes over par while junior Steve Lee went four over.

Things settled down for the Tigers in round two as they moved up the leaderboard with a score of -7, putting them at -4 on the day. Playing in his first collegiate tournament, Hoffman got going in round two to lead Memphis at 4-under-par, carding six birdies in the process. The 2011 Tennessee high school champion, Hoffman birdied three of his first four holes in round two and then finished the round with back-to-back birdies to tie for 10th place individually at -3 for the day.

"Alex (Hoffman) played solid all day," said Robbins. "He had a couple hiccups in the first round, but he finished great in the second round. We're very pleased with his efforts, especially being just a freshman."

Belote and Lee also reversed their first-round fortunes as each golfer went under par in the second round. Lee finished the second 18 holes with a 68 (-3) on the par-71 course while Belote posted a round of 69 (-2). Both golfers are now +1 for the tournament. With a second-round score of 73, Fly finished the day tied for 17th at even par while Keoninh ended the day at +4.

Redshirt freshman Cory Gaylord, who is competing individually at the event, leads all Memphis golfers at -5 overall, which is tied for third place.

Final-round action will be played Tuesday at Hattiesburg Country Club. A link to live scoring can be found on the Tigers' men's golf schedule page.