NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Longwood men's golf battled the elements, again, in the first round of the Surf Club Invitational at the Par 71, 6,604 yard course at The Surf Golf & Beach Club.
 
The Lancers played one round instead of a planned two, and the tournament will now be 36 holes instead of 54.
 
Despite the bad weather, Longwood is one of two teams under par, with their 282 (-2) team score in second. Hunter Swidzinski tied for first on the day to lead the way with a three-under 68.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS:
 
The Lancers sit two shots back of the tournament leaders, UCONN, who are in first at four under in the 17-team field.
 
Longwood also is two shots ahead of the tournament hosts, Appalachian State, who shot an even-par 284.
 
Swidzinski was excellent. The freshman's 68 was one shot off his lowest round of the season, and it was his fourth round below 70 this year.
 
He fired off four birdies and added 13 pars in the round to tie for first in the 108-player field.
 
Scott Jordan also had a strong round, posting a two-under 69 to sit tied for fourth after the first day. He excelled on the back nine, where he put home four of his five birdies on the day.
 
David LaFreniere, playing as an independent, is tied for 15^th with his opening-round 71. He had birdies on back-to-back holes, and he also had 14 pars.
 
Justin LaRue sits tied for 24^th with a one-over 72 after firing four birdies on the day, and Alex Hoerner pieced together a two-over 73. The freshman is tied for 38^th.
 
Nick Fleming is tied for 70^th with a 76.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
""Unfortunately, we're going to have (weather) days like today, especially during spring golf," said Longwood Head Coach Kevin Fillman. "It's not very glamorous. How uncooperative the weather has been on tournament days all year long is actually unbelievable. It was the same for everybody out there, so every player in the field was faced with a number of difficult situations. I'm very happy with how our guys hung in there and toughed out a solid finish. We knew how the weather was going to be last night, and we had a very direct conversation about the need to stay focused on ourselves and doing only what we had to do to be successful. For the most part, I felt like we did a really good job of letting the uncontrollables go. We're now in a position where we need to go finish it off tomorrow. The mindset will be the same. Focus on ourselves, don't worry about anything else and see how it adds up in the end."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood returns to the course for the final round tomorrow, Tuesday morning.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower