Golf improves performance from last tournament, Buttacavoli takes 10th overall

By Paul Fitzgerald     3/18/10 7:00pm

The golf team fought heavy winds to post a sixth-place finish at the Louisiana Tech University Bulldog Classic on Tuesday. While the finish represents an improvement over the team's performance at the Border Olympics last week, it left the Owls hungry for the upcoming University of Arkansas-Little Rock First Tee Collegiate Classic in two weeks. Rice opened the first round of play at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La. with a cumulative score of 306, putting them in sixth place. Senior Michael Buttacavoli and junior Michael Whitehead paced the Owls with a pair of three-over 75s. Senior Christopher Brown and freshman Jade Scott both shot six-over 78.

The team's second-round score of 303 left them in sixth place once again, as Buttacavoli and Whitehead once again led Rice. Whitehead's one-over 73 was Rice's low round for the tournament, and left the Sugar Land, Texas native in a tie for ninth place. Scott shot a 77 for the Owls, while Brown and sophomore Tommy Mitchell, traveling for the first time with the Owls, shot matching 78s.

Though the team had intentions of moving up the leaderboard during Tuesday's final round, another cumulative score of 306 kept the squad sixth place in the 16-team field, a finish Head Coach Drew Scott (Wiess '98) felt the Owls were fortunate to have.

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"The course was challenging, and I was happy to see Michael Buttacavoli and Michael Whitehead finish where they did," Scott said. "But as a team, we were lucky to finish sixth, and hopefully we're able to bounce back in Little Rock."

Buttacavoli's final-round 74 led the Owls and was good for 10th place, the senior's team-leading sixth top-10 finish of the season. While Buttacavoli's reliability has provided a lift for Rice, Scott felt consistency has been a daily battle for the Owls as it is for any team.

"We've had a great year, but we just couldn't play our best," Scott said. "It's challenging to feel like you can play your best every day when that's the hardest thing to accomplish, finding that consistency."

Brown's final-round 76 gave him a three-round score of 232, leaving him tied for 37th in the 87-person field. Whitehead, a junior, shot a 77, putting him in a tie for 77th. While he was not content with the team's performance, he did see signs of life following the Border Olympics.

"It was frustrating because we felt like we were so close," Whitehead said. "We played well at times, and definitely showed improvement from Border, but we couldn't put it all together over the course of three rounds."

While the team was not satisfied with the sixth-place finish, the Owls did not do any damage to their postseason aspirations. Rice has three regular-season tournaments remaining before the Conference USA Tournament in Orlando, Fla. in late April. With two weeks between the Bulldog and ULAR/First Tee Classics, the Owls are gearing up for a crucial stretch run that will also see them travel to tournaments hosted by the University of Mississippi and Texas State University. All three events should provide the team with the chance to face some quality competition and improve their ranking ahead of the conference and national championships.

With the team experiencing its most successful season in recent memory, a season that has seen them take two team and two individual titles, Whitehead feels the team has a different attitude this year.

"Last year, we would've looked forward to this break as an opportunity to rest and study, get other stuff done," Whitehead said. "This year, we're looking at it, and we see the NCAAs in the future, so we're excited to get out there and work on our fundamentals over the next two weeks to prepare for our next event."

On March 29, the golf team expects to compete at the UALR/First Tee Classic and get back to their victorious ways, according to Whitehead.

"We expect to win every tournament we sign up for," Whitehead said. "We're doing all we can to prepare to win, whether it's practicing or workouts or team bonding. If we didn't expect to win, we wouldn't be playing.

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