SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. - After their first 18 holes of play, the no. 2/3 Carson-Newman men's golf team sits in first place by two strokes at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
The Eagles sit two strokes ahead of Division-I Oral Roberts for first place with a first round score of a 13-under 275. That score ties the second-best team individual round score also set by Carson-Newman in the second round of the 2018 tournament. C-N also sits ahead of Division-I programs Tennessee Tech, Marshall, Cleveland State, Murray State, Bellarmine, Northern Kentucky, Binghamton, Detroit Mercy, Tennessee State and Alabama A&M along with nationally ranked D-II program Findlay.
"Really nice round today by the Carson-Newman Eagles," says Director of Golf Randy Wylie. "Alex Hodge got off to a really hot hot start. Followed by a whole bunch of guys playing really well including a stellar round from freshman Elliot and MacGregor. Very proud that our guys could put a -13 on the board with Jonathan struggling today. The best way I can describe it to most people is with a really top level basketball team, if your leading score is in foul trouble, you still need an answer and today we had an answer."
As a team, the convocation finished the day with the best score on par fours, shooting a one-under and an average score of 3.98. The Eagles also shot and average score of 2.95 and one-under on par threes and a whopping nine-under on par fives for an average score of 4.55. Carson-Newman lead all teams with 27 birdies in the first round, eight more than Oral Roberts who carded 19 on the opening day.
Alex Hodge paces the Eagles, sitting tied for second with a first round score of a five-under 67. It is the second straight year that an Eagle has shot a 67 at the Bobby Nicholls Intercollegiate after Jake Mynatt did so in the first round of the 2021 tournament. The Knoxville native started his day with a bang, carding four straight birdies and five on the back-nine. In all, Hodge ended the first round with seven birdies. Hodge tied for the best score on par threes, shooting two-under and an average score of 2.50. Hodge also tied for the fourth best score on par fours, shooting two-under with an average score of 3.80.
Freshman Elliot MacGregor sits right behind his teammate, tied for fourth with a four-under 68 after the first round. After finishing the front nine at even-par, MacGregor holed four birdies on the back nine and six on the day, tied with teammate Zach Young for second-most in the first round. The Shepperton, Middlesex native is tied for the best score on par fours, averaging a score of 3.70 and shooting three-under. The 68 is a new career best for MacGregor.
Mynatt is behind MacGregor, tied for sixth with a three-under 69. He had the third-best score on par fives with an average score of 4.25 and shot three-under. Mynatt shot three-under on the back nine after shooting even-par on the front nine.
Jackson Tyler rounds out the scoring for the convocation, as he sits tied for 13th with a one-under 71. Tyler averaged a score of 3.90 in par fours and shot one-under.
Jonathan Nielsen sits tied for 39th with a two-over 74. Nielsen did finish with the second-best score on par fives, averaging a score of 4.00 and shooting four-under.
Individually, Young sits tied for eighth with a two-under 70. After shooting two double bogeys, including on the first hole, Young carded four straight birdies on the front nine and finished with six total. He finished tied for the best score on par threes with a two-under average score of 2.50.
Will Collins rounds sits tied for 18th at even-par. After shooting a double bogey on the first hole, Collins rebounded with back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes. His 15 pars were the most of anybody in the first round.
Lane Wallace of Oral Roberts sits in first individually with a six-under 66.
The Eagles will look to lock up first place on the final day of play at the Sevierville Golf Club on Tuesday, Mar. 15. The final round begins with a shotgun start at 10:00 AM. Fans can follow along with live results available here or with updates from the course on twitter at @cn_eagles.
