NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Led by freshman Matt McCarty's 1-under 69, Santa Clara men's golf entered the clubhouse after the first round of the 15-team Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic in a tie for seventh with a team score of 291. Round two of the three-day event takes place Monday morning on the 6,713-yard, par-70 Warren Golf Course.

"This is the first time we've seen this course and we're hoping to improve over the next two days," head coach Rob Miller said. "We're in good shape to move up."

The Broncos are tied with San Diego and Butler, 11 shots behind first-round leader Eastern Michigan, which scored an even-par 280 on the opening 18 holes.

"We really played the last three holes poorly and those are probably the easiest on the course," Miller added. "We're hoping to be a little better. Nobody's going to run away with this tournament."

Playing in his second event of the year, McCarty had his best round as a collegiate golfer and sits in a seventh-place tie with a pair of golfers, three shots behind leader Blake Barens of Notre Dame.

"Real nice round by Matt," Miller said. "It was nice to see an under-par score from one of our freshmen."

Junior Hayden Shieh had a rough start going 6-over through the first five holes but was able to whittle off three strokes over the final 13, ending the day with a 3-over 73. "Considering Hayden's start, it was good to see him fight back," Miller added.

Charlie Watson carded a 4-over 74 and Michiel Eyre III finished a shot behind his teammate with a 5-over 75. Freshman Devrath Das ended the day at 7-over 77, tied with Derek Ackerman, who's competing as an individual in his first event of the season.

Santa Clara First Round Individual Results

T7.     Matt McCarty             69 (-1)

T32.   Hayden Shieh             73 (+3)

T42.   Charlie Watson           74 (+4)

T56.   Michiel Eyre III            75 (+5)

T75.   Devrath Das               77 (+7)

Competing as an individual

T75.   Derek Ackerman         77 (+7)