The Husky men’s golf team is in ninth place after the first day of the Missouri Tiger Intercollegiate Classic. The Huskies shot a 310 in the first round and a 299 the second day for a combined score of 609. This is the inaugural year for the two-day tournament, which is hosted by the University of Missouri at The Club at Old Hawthorne.

The Huskies and their competitors completed 36 holes yesterday and will play another round of 18 starting this morning.

It was a rough day for the Dawgs, as they missed several short putts and seemed to be out of sync from the start.

“It was a pretty disappointing day for us,” coach Matt Thurmond said. “We putted really poorly overall. We missed short puts, and overall we just weren’t sharp.”

The Huskies are led in scoring by sophomore Nick Taylor. Taylor shot a 75 in the first round and a 73 in the second, leaving him in a tie for 18th place overall with a score of 4-over par.

“Nick Taylor is our low guy,” Thurmond said. “He hit the ball really well today. He looked good out there. He opened up with a triple [bogey] to start the first round, but settled down after that.”

Indiana University leads the tournament by eight strokes over the University of Arkansas. The Hoosiers checked in with a combined score of 576, which puts them at even par heading into the final day of the tournament.

Junior Jorge Campillo, of Indiana, leads the individual scoring, as he shot rounds of 72 and 66, putting him at 6 under par.

Thurmond felt that the Huskies have nowhere to go but up when play resumes this morning.

“We need to address the [putting] issues,” Thurmond said. “Each guy is different, but they are all really talented.”

Senior Zach Bixler shot a combined 154 to put him at 10-over par heading into the final day. He is tied for 41st overall. Freshman Tze Huang Choo and sophomore Darren Wallace were both one shot behind Bixler, coming in with scores of 155 each. They are both tied for 43rd. Rounding out the Husky scoring was junior John Wise, who shot a 156, tying him for 47th overall.

Thurmond is looking forward to today’s round to help the Huskies climb up the leader board.

“We need a couple of guys to have great days,” he said.

[Reach reporter Evan Riggs at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]