HATTIESBURG – Three years ago, Austin Burk took the course for the very first time as McNeese's head coach here at the Sam Hall Invitational and watched his Cowboys finish 15^th out of 15 teams in the event.
 
On Tuesday, Burk witnessed just how far he has brought the Cowboys as he watched his team complete a dominating performance to win the event by 15 strokes with a 23-under score of 829, led by sophomore Bob MacIntyre who took the individual title with a 14-under 199 in the three rounds.
 
"This was a great team win," said Burk. "It's a nice way to start the year."
 
MacIntyre capped the day with the event's best round of all golfers with a 6-under 65 to beat out Sam Houston State's Andrew Ertel by three strokes.
 
"I've very happy for MacIntyre on his individual title," said Burk. "He continues to impress me each week."
 
Andreas Krokeide tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard with a 9-under 204 following a 68 on Tuesday while Martin Eriksson ended in 11^th place with a 3-under 210.
 
MacIntyre appeared to be on cruise control the entire third round. After pars on the first two holes of play, he birdied four of the next seven holes to make the turn at 4-under. He then carded birdies on 12, 15 and 17 to get to 7-under for the day until a bogey on No. 18 brought him back down to 6-under.
 
Like MacIntyre, Krokeide turned in his third sub-70 scorecard of the tournament with a 68 while his dominance on the par 5 No. 17 allowed him to get that score. Sitting at 1-under with two holes left, Krokeide eagled No. 17 for the second time in the tournament then got a par on No. 18 to finish with a 3-under 68.
 
Duncan McNeill ended the day with a 3-over 74 and was 3-over for the tournament with a 216, and Nolan Timon shot a 77 on the day to wrap up his first collegiate event.
 
"We will enjoy this one then get back to work on Thursday," said Burk. "It's early in the year and I plan to change the lineup some for the next one (tournament). The team should feel great about this win but we have to keep working on the small things."
 
Louisiana-Lafayette finished behind the Cowboys on the team leaderboard with an 8-under 844 followed by Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, and Arkansas-Little Rock tied with UTSA for fifth to round out the top five.
 
The Cowboys will be back in action Sept. 26-28 at the Jackrabbit Invitational hosted by South Dakota State and played at the Prairie Club Dunes Course in Valentine, Nebraska.
 
Team Scoring: 1. McNeese 829; 2. Louisiana-Lafayette 844; 3. Louisiana Tech 845; 4. Mississippi State 852; T5. Arkansas-Little Rock 853; T5. UTSA 853; 7. Southeastern Louisiana 860; 8. Sam Houston State 862; 9. Arkansas State 865; T10. Southern Mississippi 867; T10. Middle Tennessee State 867; 12. Rice 870; 13. South Alabama 875; 14. Louisiana-Monroe 890; 15. Jackson State 945.
 
McNeese Individual Scores: 1. Bob MacIntyre 66-68-65 – 199 (-14); T4. Andreas Krokeide 67-69-68 – 204 (-9); 11. Martin Eriksson 67-70-73 – 210 (-3); T29. Duncan McNeill 73-69-74 – 216 (+3); T79, Nolan Timon 85-76-77 – 238 (+25).