Author: Golfers Network Contributors Updated: Sat 3/28/2009 8:18 pm

March 28, 2009 - Columbus, IN - In a  race against Mother Nature, the decision was made to play 27 holes on day one of the Wisconsin Parkside Invitational at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, IN. 

Bellarmine University led the tournament after 18 holes with a team score of 292.  Wisconsin Parkside was in 2nd place at 302 with Missouri-St. Louis in 3rd with a team score of 304.  UMSL entered the championship as the 15th ranked team in the Great Lakes Region and needed head to head wins against Lewis University and Wisconsin Parkside to improve their regional standing.  "It's important we begin to get a few head to head victories", said head coach, Dustin Ashby.

Realizing bad weather was moving in, tournament director Mark Olsen of Wisconsin Parkside elected to continue playing on day one in hopes of getting in another 9 holes leaving only 9 holes to play on Sunday.  The forecast called for snow flurries on Sunday and the idea of playing only 9 holes in the projected low 40 degree temperatures seemed more tolerable. 

It was the team of Wisconsin Parkside that took full advantage of the additional 9 holes on Saturday, posting a team total of 3 over par over the nine holes.  The 147 total pulled them into a team tie for first place with first round leader, Bellarmine.  Missouri-St. Louis maintained their 3rd place position after round 1 after the additional 9 holes. 

UMSL's Tim Cochran entered the tournamet as the 18th ranked player in the Great Lakes Region on the merits of a solid fall performance.  Cochran posted a first round 73, 4 shots of the pace for individual medalist.  After taking 40 strokes during his front nine of round two, Cochran will have to come from behind if he is to notch another top 10 on his record.  "I didn't get much out of my round today", said the UMSL sophomore.  "I hit it better and played better than my first round 73 and then ran into trouble on the par 3, 3rd hole during my second round". 

Players will resume round two at 8am EST on Sunday in hopes of finishing before the bad weather moves into the area.  Thunderstorms are expected Saturday night with potential snow flurries to hit Columbus, IN sometime on Sunday.