VALDOSTA, Ga. - Despite reaching as high as fourth on the front-nine the no. 4/4 Carson-Newman men's golf team struggled on the back-nine, finishing the first round of the NCAA South/Southeast Regional in a tie for twelfth.
Carson-Newman finished the day with an even par 288 as a team. The Eagles shot a combined four-under on the front-nine at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, led by Alex Hodge, who carded a three-under 33 in his first nine holes of the morning.
However, the team shot a combined four-over on the back-nine, with Jake Mynatt being the only golfer not to go over-par on the last nine holes. Mynatt shot and even-par 36 on the back-nine.
The Eagles did very well on par threes, shooting an even-par average score of 3.00, fourth-best in the first round. The orange & blue carded 15 total birdies in the first round, led by Hodge and Jonathan Nielsen with four apiece.
C-N is tied for twelfth place with no. 6 USC-Aiken. West Georgia and Delta State are both tied for first after the opening round with a 12-under, 276 first round score.
"We had a mediocre day today," says Director of Golf Randy Wylie. "This is a tough group, who usually bounces back after poor start. I fully expect us to do that tomorrow. Alex and Jackson led us with a pair of 71s today. However, we will need some rounds in the 60s tomorrow to get us back into contention."
Individually, both Hodge and Jackson Tyler paced the Eagles in the first round, sitting tied for 35th with one-under 71s. After carding four birdies through 15 holes, Hodge ended the day with three straight bogeys. Hodge averaged the fourth best score on par threes, shooting a one-under, 2.75 score on the shortest holes.
The round is Hodge's first under-par round since shooting a three-under 69 in the second round of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
Tyler recorded three birdies through the first eleven holes before shooting two bogeys in the final seven holes. The Wilmington, N.C. native shot a two-under, average score of 4.50 on par fives.
Both Mynatt and Nielsen sit tied for 54th after shooting a pair of one-over 73s in the first round. Mynatt also shot one-under with an average score of 2.75 on par threes in the opening round.
Nielsen meanwhile shot an average score of a three-under, 4.25 on the longest holes in Valdosta, tied for the second-best score of the field in the opening round on par fives.
Will Collins sits tied for 84th with a three-over 75 to round out the convocation's five players.
Muhammad Afif Mohd Fathi of Barton College sits in first place individually with a seven-under 67.
The Eagles return to the links tomorrow, May 6, for second round play. Collins will start things off for the Eagles, teeing off at 7:30 am. Fans can follow along with live stats via Golfstat here.
