BATTLE FOR THE BELT DAY ONE RESULTS | ROUND THREE TEE TIMES
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Delta State University men's golf team overcame a slow start to finish day one in fourth in the Battle for the Belt on Monday at the Hot Springs Country Club.
The Statesmen shot a plus-seven, 295 in the first round before heating up to card an eight-under, 280 to finish the day at one-under 576.
Kyle Decenzo is the top Delta State individual, shooting a 72, 71 to finish the day tied for 12th at one under, 143. Decenzo is seven strokes off the lead of Henderson State's Mitchell Ford, who fired an eight-under, 236.
Henderson State's Miller Harris and Arkansas Tech's Santiago De La Fuente shot a six-under, 138.
Mitchell Fifer dialed in the lowest round of the day for the Statesmen, shooting a 66 in the second. Fifer is tied for 18th with fellow Statesmen
Landon Carner with a one-over, 144.
Jake Kight is tied for 21st with a two-over 146, followed by
Pongbhop Jamornsrianan with a 154 (+10). Fifer and Decenzo one-under, 71 were the second-lowest rounds of the day for the Statesmen.
Fifer is second in the tournament with 11 birdies, followed by Kight in seventh with six birdies.
Carner is third in the field with 27 pars, and Decenzo is fourth with 26 pars.
Host Henderson State carded an 18-under, 558 to lead the team standing by nine strokes over Southern Arkansas and defending national champion Arkansas Tech with a nine-under, 567.
The Statesmen are eight strokes ahead of fifth-place Mississippi College, which fired a seven-over, 583.
Southeastern Oklahoma State is fifth with a 584, followed by Henderson State-B (587), Harding University (588), Arkansas-Monticello (609), Lincoln Memorial (617), and Northwestern Oklahoma State (621).
Delta State will tee off the final round of the Battle for the Belt at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
