The men’s golf team started its season by taking the NokiaTulane Invitational in New Orleans last Tuesday.

The team beat 14th-ranked Wake Forest by two strokes.

The tournament was held at the English Turn Golf and CountryClub. The par 72, 7, 028-yard course was handled well by all of theteam on the first day.

SMU had four players in the top 10 with the first day’sconclusion.

Sophomore Will Dodson finished Monday in third, shooting roundsof 69 (-3) and 70 (-2). In his morning round, Dodson posted fiveconsecutive birdies and was just four shots off the leader, WakeForest’s Bill Haas.

Right behind Dodson was freshman Dan Kleckner. Kleckner postedrounds of 71 (-1) and 70 (-2). Kleckner made his first tournamentappearance as a varsity collegiate player.

Freshman Colt Knost fired rounds of 68 (-4) and 75 (+3) tofinish the day in sixth place. Knost’s day included an eagleon the par-4 18th hole.

Junior captain Scott Abbot finished with rounds of 71 (-1) and73 (+1) and in a five-way tie for seventh.

Rounding out the Mustangs was Jerad Harklau tied for 16th withrounds of 75 (+3) and 74 (+2).

After the first day, boosted by rounds of 279 and 278, theMustangs found themselves 10 strokes ahead of Wake Forest.

Tuesday’s cold and rainy conditions were not enough todampen the team’s determination, and the Mustangs held offthe Demon Deacons by two shots.

Abbott shot a team-best 74 (+2) for the day and finished tiedfor sixth.

Kleckner completed his first college tournament with a round of75 (+3). His team-leading performance of 216 for the tournament wasenough to earn him a tie for third place.

Dodson shot a 78 (+6) on Tuesday and dropped from third tofifth.

Knost fired an 80 (+8) and fell to 12th place.

Harklau improved to 13th at the conclusion of thetournament.

The team finished the tournament with a total of 302 while WakeForest fell two shots short with a final score of 304.

The golf team’s victory is the sixth Mustang tournamentvictory since October of 2002.

The Mustangs are competing in the John Burns Invitational inHonolulu until Friday.