MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. - Middle Tennessee is in a familiar position after the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championships on the Fighting Joe Course at the Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals.

The position may be familiar but it is not one the Blue Raiders had envisioned. Middle Tennessee is in seventh place, 13 shots behind defending champion Louisiana-Lafayette entering Tuesday's second round. Middle Tennessee was 13 shots off the pace after the opening round last year and stormed back to force a playoff before falling short and first-year Head Coach Whit Turnbow believes another strong run is possible.

"We were in the same shape last year and we battled," Turnbow said. "We will try to get half of the (deficit) back (Tuesday) and the rest of it on Wednesday and see what happens. You can't play defense in golf and we couldn't do anything about the way Louisiana-Lafayette played today. It was one of the better rounds I've seen all year and it is a round they are capable of playing. They played it at the right time."

The Ragin' Cajuns were one of two teams to shoot under par on the strenuous Fighting Joe Course, shooting 8-under 280 to open a four-stroke lead on second-place Denver at 4-under-284. North Texas was even and is third, followed by New Orleans (289), South Alabama (290), Western Kentucky (291) and Middle Tennessee (293).

Chas Narramore put together a good round and finished the day tied for 11th with a 1-under 71. Narramore's birdie on 18 enabled him to finish the first round under par. The consistent Narramore continued his steady play with four birdies and he had a bogey on the par-4 11th but it was a double bogey on the par-5 17 that cost the junior an even stronger day.

Jason Millard and Rick Cochran are tied for 22nd after shooting 1-over 73 in the opening round, while Kent Bulle is 41st with a 4-over 76 and Nick Bailes was 9-over 81 after the opening day of play. Bulle pulled together a nice round after shooting 6-over 42 on the front. He played the back at 2-under to carry momentum into Tuesday's second round.

"We battled all day long," Turnbow said. "We were a lot more over than the scoreboard shows halfway through the round so I have to give them credit for battling. We just didn't have our best stuff and that's my fault for not having them ready. There won't be any heads hanging. We are not out of it. We are going to play hard and our guys know a lot is going to happen in the next two days."

Middle Tennessee will be in Tuesday's second tee group and begin play at 8:15 a.m.

Sun Belt Conference Championships
Robert Trent Jones at the Shoals
Fighting Joe Course, Par 72
First Round Team Scores
1 Louisiana-Lafayette 280 -8
2 Denver 284 -4
3 North Texas 288 E
4 New Orleans 289 +1
5 South Alabama 290 +2
6 Western Kentucky 291 +3
7 Middle Tennessee 293 +5
8 Troy 294 +6 9 UALR 296 +8
10 Arkansas State 297 +9
11 Louisiana-Monroe 299 +11
12 Florida Atlantic 304 +16

7 MT Scores (293)
T11 Chas Narramore 34-37 71 -1
T22 Jason Millard 37-36 73 +1
T22 Rick Cochran 38-35 73 +1
T41 Kent Bulle 42-34 76 +4
59 Nick Bailes 42-39 81 +9

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