DICKSON -  Freshman Anthony Bradley shot an opening-round 69 to lead Austin Peay State University men's golf team at the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference men's golf championship.

Austin Peay is tied for fifth, along with Eastern Kentucky, at 291. They will tee off with fourth-place Murray State beginning at 8:20 a.m., Tuesday, for second-round play. Jacksonville State is the tournament's early leader after a seven-under par 281. UT Martin and Tennessee State both shot 287s to sit tied in second place. Eastern Illinois (297), Tennessee Tech (297) and Morehead State (299) round out the field.

Monday's opening round got off to a late start as weather pushed back the starting tee times by one hour to 9:30 a.m. When the teams finally got on the course, a lightning delay took another 30 minutes out of the round. Upon returning to action, heavy rains poured as play continued.

The Govs, having teed off at 9:30 a.m., battled conditions not unlike what they had faced at many of their tournaments during the regular season. As the rain drenched the course, the Govs managed to get in the clubhouse at three-over par. Aside from Bradley's three-under par 69, freshman Marco Iten finished at even par, junior Drew Miller shot a two-over 74 and sophomore Dustin Korte rounded out the Govs scorers with a four-over par 76.

Bradley's 69 came by way of four birdies and only one bogey. When the rain came, Bradley managed the course well and finished the front nine at even par. On the back nine, he started to get hot. He made birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 14, while also managing to save par on No. 18 after a rough second shot.

"Anthony played solid and made some nice putts," Kayden said. "He had a great up-and-down on 18. He was way off left and got up-and-down from 40 yards." A 69 in the weather we had this morning is pretty impressive."

Iten had a seemingly quiet day of par golf. When it looked like he would be able to coast into the clubhouse at two-under par, he made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17, which offset birdies on Nos. 1 and 12. Miller had a strong final nine which brought him at two-over par. After making three bogeys on the front, he had consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.

"I was real happy with Drew's back nine," Kayden said. "The final stretch is the meat of the golf course - holes 16, 17 and 18 - and Drew made par on 17 and 18 to finish out."

Austin Peay got disappointing rounds from sophomore Dustin Korte and senior Luke Sherrod. One key for the Govs heading into tournament play was the necessity of having four low scores each round. Korte played a rollercoaster 18 holes, making a double-bogey, five bogeys and three birdies. Sherrod, meanwhile, lost three strokes on his final two holes to finish with a five-over par 77.  

"Dustin struggled today," Kayden said. "He was anxious from the start and never really got comfortable. The guys are fired up and really want to play. We've got to stay calm - that's a big part of playing good golf, being able to stay within yourself."

Sitting 10 strokes off the lead, Kayden realizes that getting back in it is very realistic.

"We didn't shoot ourselves out of it," Kayden said. "I think at three over, we still have a chance with two rounds to play. Making up four or five shots in team is not out of the question. We've got to come out ready to tee it, Tuesday."

-AP-