La Verne, Redlands have good day at golf nationals

It was a good first day for the local teams at the Division III national golf championship Tuesday at Chateau Elon Resort in Braselton, Ga.

The University of La Verne surged out to a 10-stroke lead with a 7-over 291 while SCIAC foe University of Redlands is tied for fourth in the 35-team field at 20-over 304.

Skidmore is a distant second (301) while St. John Fisher is third (302).
Leopards coach Rex Huigens is optimistic but guarded, citing the fact that the 72-hole tournament is being conducted over two courses.

"We'll have a lot better idea where we stand after the second round. We played the easier of thre two today," he said. "But we are hitting the ball well so we're off to a good start."

The Leos and the Bulldogs both played the par-71, 7,030-yard Chateau course. Seven of the top eight teams played that one. The other is the par-71 6,728-yard Woodlands course.
A cut will be made after today's round and all teams will play the final two rounds on the same course.

"The one is longer but its straighter," Huigens said. "The other one is shorter and tighter and there is a lot more potential to get into trouble."

La Verne had two players in the top five with Andrew Kramer shooting an even-par 71 and Chris Davis right behind him at 72.

Rounding out the scoring were Rizal Amin (74) and Jordan Talah (74) who were in a logjam of seven players tied for 16th place. Mitchell Fedorka (75) was the non-scoring member of the team.

The Bulldogs are led by Ross Canavan, one of just three players that broke par. He shot a 1-under 70, just two strokes behind leader Scott Harris of Pacific (68).
Also representing the Bulldogs are E.J. Stenftenagel (75), Scott Pena (77), J.C. Riter (81) and Alex Hedlund (83).

"You can't win a title on the first day but you can lose it," Redlands coach Art Salvesen said. "Today will be the difference. This one is real man's course."