POWELLS POINT, N.C. – Nick Rakes, Justin LaRue and Zane Moore all gritted out top 15 days in the opening round of the OBX Intercollegiate on Sunday afternoon. The trio handled gusts of wind that reached up to 35 or 40 miles per hour to lead the Lancers to seventh in the 15-team field after 18 holes.
 
Rakes was tied for ninth with an even-par round, and both LaRue and Moore were tied for 14^th on a day where par was a solid score. The Lancers sit two shots back of sixth and three shots back of a top five finish.
 
RESULTS:
Kilmarlic Golf Club
Powells Point, N.C.
Par 71, 6,563 Yard
 
Team
7. Longwood: 293 (+9)
 
Individual
T9. Nick Rakes: 71 (E)
T14. Justin LaRue: 72 (+1)
T14. Zane Moore: 72 (+1)
T53. Scott Jordan: 78 (+7)
T59. Matthew Lyons: 79 (+8)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Longwood's entire roster played its best golf at the end of the round, with Rakes, LaRue and Moore all leading the way.
 
For Rakes, he was incredibly consistent. He closed with nine straight pars and finished the day tied for ninth. He had a trio of birdies on the front nine as well and didn't have anything worse than a bogey in his 18 holes.
 
Meanwhile, LaRue posted the team's best score over the final nine holes. He went two-under on the back nine, and he had three birdies on the day.
 
Moore also had a pair of birdies in the back nine to shoot one under on his final nine holes. He finished with three birdies on a day when no player had more than six.
 
Scott Jordan had a pair of birdies in his back nine and three on the day as well to finish tied for 53^rd. Matthew Lyons had two birdies on the day to finish tied for 59^th in the 76-player field.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"As is the case down here a decent percentage of the time, the golf course won today's round," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "Between the set-up and the wind, it was difficult task for everybody, us included. Pars were good scores today, and, fortunately, we had a few guys hang in there and make quite a few of them while sprinkling a few birdies in there as well. It certainly wasn't pretty, but we managed to keep ourselves in the golf tournament. We're definitely going to have to cut down on our big numbers the next couple rounds, and playing the Par 5s better is a must. When those things happen, we'll be fine."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood will play the second round of the three-round tournament on Monday morning. The final round will be Tuesday, October 24.
 
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