SMU In 1st Place After Day 1 At C-USA Golf Championships

TEXARKANA, Ark. (SMU) – Bryson Dechambeau and Mario Clemens both carded rounds of four-under par to help give SMU a seven-stroke lead after the first day at the Conference USA Championships on Sunday in Texarkana, Ark.

Both Clemens and Dechambeau had five birdies with one bogey to share the first round lead with Curtis Reed of Houston and MartinSimonsen of UTEP. Harry Higgs is tied for sixth at two-under after carding four birdies against two bogeys.

SMU Head Coach Josh Gregory was very satisfied with his team’s first round effort.

“We had a great start today,” Gregory said. “All five guys played solid and were in the game all day. We had a great week of practice and great preparation. We have a little extra motivation after the Augusta State event, and we will stick with the same gameplan tomorrow and hope to keep it going.”

Austin Smotherman finished at even par, putting him in a tie for 14th. David Lee is just two-over, tied for 28th.

Monday play will begin at a new time, with the first groups teeing off at 8:30 a.m. CDT. UTEP, Memphis and Marshall will start at 8:30 off of No. 1 as the fourth through sixth place teams, respectively. Those trios will be followed by SMU, UCF and Houston, beginning at 9:20 a.m. Rice, East Carolina and affiliate member Old Dominion will start on No. 10 at 8:30 a.m., while Southern Miss, UAB and Tulsa will tee off No. 10 beginning at 9:20 a.m.

Tuesday’s final round will tee off at 8 a.m. CDT. The winner of the C-USA Championship receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals.