PEARLAND, TEXAS (SMU) – Senior Gray Townsend fired a 4-under par 140 to pace the SMU men's golf team and finish tied for second after day one of the 2017 Bayou City Collegiate Classic. The Mustangs are in sixth place (+1, 577) overall following a 2-under par first round (286) and a 3-over 291 in the afternoon.

Townsend, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native, combined a flawless 4-under par (68) first round with an even second round to finish the day. After parring the first three holes he faced, Townsend found a spark and birdied four of next six holes to take a 4-under standing back onto the front half. He wrapped up the round with six straight pars. In round two, the senior opened the round with three straight birdies, before his final birdie of the day on the first hole, a 539-yard, par-5.

Freshman McClure Meissner fired a 1-over par 145 (72-73—145) on the day. Sitting at tied for 26th overall, the San Antonio, Texas, native, carded six birdies on the day.

Daniel Connolly and Henrik Olsson are both tied for 29th on the leaderboard at 2-over par. Connolly (73-73) recorded eight birdies on the day, while Olsson managed five.

Graduate transfer Clancy Waugh finished the day 4-over par, following a first round 75 and a second round 73. He is currently tied for 40th.

The Mustangs are one stroke behind American Athletic Conference rival Houston and two strokes behind UTSA. Arkansas State leads at 7-under, while Lipscomb (-6) and Sam Houston State (-2) rounds out the top three.

The third and final round of the Bayou City Collegiate Classic tees off at 8 a.m. CT. SMU opens play at 8:45 a.m., and will be paired with Houston and UTSA starting on hole No. 1.  
 

Position	Team	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Total
1	Arkansas State	-7	282	287	569
2	Lipscomb	-6	285	285	570
3	Sam Houston State	-2	281	293	574
4	UTSA	-1	290	285	575
5	Houston	E	289	287	576
6	SMU	1	286	291	577

 

Position	Name	School	Round 1	Round 2	Total	To Par
1	Dawson Armstrong	Lipscomb	67	70	137	-7
T2	Jake McCrory	Sam Houston State	68	72	140	-4
T2	Gray Townsend	SMU	68	72	140	-4
T2	Tanner Napier	Arkansas State	69	71	140	-4
T2	Zander Lozano	UTSA	72	68	140	-4
T2	Bryce Dooley	Abilene Christian	72	68	140	-4