GOLF | Gaels Surge Late in First Round of SMC Invitational

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The Gaels regrouped after a slow start on the first day of the Saint Mary's Invitational and came on strong at the end of the day to finish tied for sixth in the field of 16 teams.

THE LEADERBOARD
Saint Mary's is tied with San Francisco on the leaderboard at 1-under after 18 holes. No. 20 Colorado has a large lead after shooting 17-under on Monday and is trailed by No. 6 BYU (8-under) and No. 14 Arizona (6-under).

Leading the way for SMC was Ethan Farnam who finished the day tied for sixth in the field of 100 competitors at 3-under. The junior treaded water through a tough front nine with pars on every hole before turning on the gas on the back nine with two birdies and an eagle. Following closely behind Farnam was Evan Peterson who shot 2-under to end t-9th in his first tournament of the season as a member of the SMC lineup.

Blake Hathcoat was steady at even on the day while Ash Hakim shot 4-over. Michael Slesinski finished one stroke back at 5-over.

Colorado State's Davis Bryant sits atop the medalist leaderboard at 7-under while two other Rams reside among the top-6. Rounding out the top-five are CSU's Oscar Teiffel, Arizona's Brad Reeves, BYU's Peter Kuest, and Coastal Carolina's Seth Taylor.

Saint Mary's also had five individuals competing in the event. Jeffrey Inouye-Wong and freshman Ronnie Hun led the individuals group at 2-over and were followed by Dylan VanderVeer (4-over), Kent Kao (9-over) and Ethan Ashbrook (16-over).

The full leaderboard can be followed here.

FIRST ROUND HIGHLIGHTS