May 11, 2007

The University of Texas-Pan American men's golf team finished on top of the leader board after one round of play at the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Tournament in Port St. Lucie, FL, on Friday (May 11) on the Ryder Course.

The defending champion Bronc golf squad shot a 286 team total to take a two-stroke lead over Florida A&M University of Tallahassee.

"It was nice to start a tournament well. Our goal is to put ourselves in position to win the tournament sunday and we've taken one step towards that. Overall I'm happy with our performance today. We made some mistakes out there, but remained patient and made some good birdies," said head men's golf coach Andrew Tredway.

Newcomer Armen Kirakossian (Portland, OR/Wilson H.S.) led UTPA with an 18-hole tally of 69 in second place, trailing James Petty of Florida A&M University by one stroke. Kirakossian shot a 34 on the front nine followed by a 35 on the back nine.

Teammates Colin Norris (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Cochrane H.S.) and Shane Pearce (Carrollton, TX/Hebron H.S.) tied for the sixth spot with a first round total of 71.

Reigning Minority Golf Tournament champion Kyle Tudi (Phoenix, AZ/Chaparral H.S.) ended the day tied for the 26th spot with a tally of 75 (37-38) while freshman High Wongchindawest (Bangkok, Thailand/Heritage Academy) rounded out the Bronc five with a 32nd place performance, shooting an 18-hole tally of 76 (37-39).

The Lady Broncs finished 12-strokes behind reigning champion Bethune-Cookman with a round-one total of 324 on day one of the Minority Golf Championship.

Leading the way for the Lady Broncs is Mariale Camey (Ciudad, Guatemala/Univ. of New Orleans) in fourth place with an 18-hole total of 79-stroke, including a 40 on the front nine to go along with 39 on the back nine holes.

Tied for 5th place is Elizabeth Rodriguez (Kingwood, TX/Kingwood H.S.) with a day one mark of 80 with a 37-stroke front nine while local product Rebecca DeLeon (Mission, TX/Veterans Memorial H.S.) recorded a score of 82 in eighth place after 18 holes.

Teammates Jennifer Marks (El Paso, TX/McClennan J.C.) and Bronwyn Sandberg (St. Albert, Alberta, Canada/Bellerose Composite) tied for ninth place, each shooting an 83 (39-44) through the first round of play.

The Broncs and Lady Broncs continue action at the Minority Golf Championships in Port St. Lucie, FL, on Saturday (May 12) and conclude play on Sunday (May 13).

UTPA Sports Information