After 36 grueling holes Monday, front-runner Seth Gandy of Charlotte retained control of the lead at the Conference USA men's golf championships at Texarkana Country Club.
With inclement weather forecasted later in the week, the 54-hole event was shortened to two days Tuesday morning, the players having played one round Sunday. During the second round, played in the morning and early afternoon, five rounds of par were turned in and five sub-pars were carded. In the third round, played later in the afternoon into the evening, only five players scored par with no one shooting under par.
Gandy, who had fired a 5-under 67 to open the tournament, scored a 1-under 71 in the second round before finishing with a 4-over 76 for a 3-round total of 2-under 214 for UNC-Charlotte.
UAB's Taylor Eyster and North Texas' Cory Churchman finished tied for second at even-par 216, Eyster firing rounds of 72 and 73 Tuesday and Churchman shooting 75-73.
Southern Mississippi's Ryan Argotsinger was fourth with a 71-74-72-217, Nick Rencis placed fifth for Old Dominion at 72-74-72-218, and Texas-El Paso's Charles Corner had a 73-70-76-219.
Five players tied for seventh at 220, including North Texas' Thomas Rosenmueller, who was tied with Gandy after two rounds but faltered and shot 10-over 82 in Round 3. UTEP's Aaron Terrazas and Frederik Dreier were also among the five tied at 220 for seventh.
The University of Texas-El Paso moved into first place in the team standings at 15-over par 879, North Texas finished stroke play at 19-over 883, UNC-Charlotte was third at 28-over 892, and Middle Tennessee State and Southern Mississippi were knotted for fourth at 893.
The top four teams compete in a match-play finale today, with the winner qualifying for the NCAA regionals.
