Bounds leads MCC at Nationals

Eagles in top ten after day one

(HUNTSVILLE, Ala.) - Meridian Community College sophomore, Clay Bounds led the Eagles on Tuesday in the opening round of the NJCAA Division I National Championship in Huntsville, AL.

Bounds fired a team low round of 1-over par, 73 on the 7,129 yard long River Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail-Hampton Cove.

The former Lamar High School standout used three birdies (#4, #10 and #13) to shoot his eighth round under 75 this season. He is currently in the top 15 out of 120 golfers.

"We had the feeling during the practice rounds that Clay would play really well this week and he certainly did on day one," said MCC coach Sean Covich.

MCC is currently in a tie for ninth place with a 303 team score.

"As a team we were just a few shots off our goal of 300," added Covich.

"We were really just one shot per player away from breaking 300 and being happy right now, but you can't win this thing on the first day and we're still in it- just need sub-300 scores the rest of the way."

The Eagles had a 73 from Bounds, a pair of 4-over par rounds of 76 from Jarrod Moulds and Garrett Westbrook, and a 6-over par round of 78 from Cory Williamson. MCC dropped the 87 shot by Nick Hawkes.

Central Alabama Community College and McLennan (TX) Community College lead the 24-team field with rounds of 290. Midland (TX) College is third with a 294, and New Mexico Junior College is in fourth with a 295. Three teams are tied for fifth with a 299.

”The leader board is really crowded at the top, and there is a lot of golf yet to be played,” said Covich.

“We really need a 295 or around there tomorrow to jump into the top five.”

Tommy Sikes of Midland leads the individual race with an opening round of 3-under par, 69. Garrett Driver of McLennan and Zach Primavera of CACC are tied for second with 2-under par rounds of 70.

The tournament continues tomorrow and concludes on Friday.

Scoring available on www.golfstat.com.

http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1521