April 18, 2004

The 41st-annual Southland Conference men's golf championship will be contested April 19-21 at the High Meadow Ranch Golf Club in Magnolia, Texas.

Lamar looks to four-peat the 54-hole event, which gets under way Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. The Cardinals had just enough to fend off hard-charging Texas-San Antonio during the third and final round of the 2003 championship. Lamar shot a 277 on day three to win by two strokes over the Roadrunners. Lamar finished six strokes under par at 846, bettering its score each round with 286, 283 and the seven-under par score on the final day.

UTA will have Landon Allen, Tyrone Mordt, Jordan Krantz, Marc Campbell and Chris Myers competing for the program's first conference title since 1999.

"I think we are coming together as a group at the right time," said UTA head golf coach Jay Rees. "We got a good group of young golfers and I think they are ready to step up and compete."

The Mavericks are coming off their best effort of the spring season with a 54-hole total of 881 for 10th place at the Border Olympics on April 3.

Three-time SLC player of the year Chris Stroud of Lamar returns for his senior season, looking to win the third SLC championship individual medalist honor in his career. Former teammate Mark Van Hoose took the 2002 title with a 216 while Stroud finished fourth at 221. A win this year would make Stroud one of three players in league history to capture three individual titles, joining John Davis (1974-76) of former member Louisiana-Lafayette and Tim Graham (1977-79) of McNeese State. In addition to Davis, Graham and Stroud, only one other individual, Mike Garrison of Lamar (1966 and 1968), has won two individual medalist honors.

Stroud, who earlier in the week was named a finalist for the prestigious Ben Hogan Award, presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA golfer, leads the Southland with a 69.79 scoring average over 14 rounds. In five tournaments this spring, the Groves, Texas, native has won two tournaments, finished third once and fourth in the other two.

In the Golfstat national rankings, which combined the fall and spring seasons for all, SLU ranks No. 49 nationally. Lamar is 53rd, followed closely by UTSA at No. 59. The Roadrunners have three team tournament wins in 10 outings during the 2003-04 season to lead all Southland teams.