Golf: Cruz Valle Equals School Record Round As Cajuns Sit In Fifth At Lone Star Invitational

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Ragin’ Cajuns golf sophomore Fernando Cruz Valle matched a school record on Monday as he carded a 64 (-8) in the second round to lead a 12-under (276) team effort landing the squad in a tie for fifth after the first day of the Lone Star Invitational hosted at the par 72, 7,247-yard Briggs Ranch Golf Club.
 
Louisiana posted a 36-hole score of 7-under (569) to end the day in a tie with conference foe UT Arlington.
 
"Very proud of the fight and grit that the team showed today with a bounce back second round score of 12-under," head coach Theo Sliman said. "We have put ourselves in position to move up the leader board and beat some solid teams tomorrow, however, we need to keep the momentum of the afternoon round as there are some solid teams right behind us."
 
No. 12 Texas Tech leads the tournament with a score of 27-under (549) carding a team score of 13-under and 14-under in consecutive rounds. Southeastern Louisiana sits in second at 18-under (558) while UTSA is seven strokes back of the Lions in third at 11-under (565).
 
Hannes Ronneblad of Texas Tech sits atop the individual leaderboard at 9-under (135) after carding 65 (-7) in the afternoon round.
 
Cruz Valle bounced back from a morning round score of 5-over (77) to card the 64 and finish the day in a tie for 19th at 3-under (141). Cruz Valle’s 64 equals the school record set by Philipp Fendt in 2011 at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate.
 
The Woodlands, Texas native tallied a bogey free round en route to the 64, posting birdies on five of his last eight holes of the day.
 
Haraldur Magnus is also in a tie for 19th with Cruz Valle having tallied back-to-back rounds under par with a 70 and 71.
 
Thomas Strandemo finished the day in a tie for 37th with a two-round score of 1-over (145). Christian Verrougstraete is two strokes back of Strandemo in a tie for 52nd at 3-over (147), while Ross Davis used a second round score of 2-under (70) to move up into a tie for 57th at 4-over (148).
 
"I realize that both Fernando and Ross are not happy with their first round performance, yet I could not be more proud of their toughness and determination to bounce back and lead the team in the afternoon with scores of 64 and 70 after having a disappointing morning," Sliman said. "This was a huge day for Fernando shooting his career low round and matching the lowest round shot by a Cajun in the record book."
 
"Once again we saw some solid consistent play from Haraldur with two rounds under par. Very happy to see Thomas post two solid rounds as well after not being in the lineup since Houston. Minus a couple of mishaps in the morning, Thomas could very well have had two great rounds today. Christian has continued to be steady for us, and when he starts making a few putts, we will see even lower scores from him."
 
The Cajuns are paired with UT Arlington, No. 44 Ohio State and New Mexico State in the final round. Play gets underway at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live scoring for the final round is available on BIrdieFire.com.
 
"It’s very nice to see the guys bounce back as a team in the evening, yet we will continue to stick to our philosophy and need to learn and apply tomorrow," Sliman added. "Many things were learned today. The key is to apply that knowledge tomorrow."
 
For updates and info on Ragin’ Cajuns golf, follow the team on twitter @CajunGolf or check RaginCajuns.com.