VALENTINE, Neb. – Five Santa Clara men's golfers shot below 70 on the 7,785-yard, par-72 Prairie Club Dunes Course and the team carded one of the best rounds in school history, recording a 23-under 265 to take the first-round lead at The Jackrabbit. Round 2 will get underway Monday morning and the field will complete the event with a single 18-hole round on Tuesday.
Senior Hayden Shieh leads the field by 1-shot after a first-round 8-under 64. Tied for second at 65 is Matt McCarty and freshman Jack Avrit is 3-shots off the lead tied for fifth following his first-round 5-under 67.
"What a way to start, huh?" head coach Rob Miller said. "Can't ask for anything better than that. It was fun to watch."
The Broncos got off to a blistering start getting to 20-under after the first seven holes. "The course was scoreable today and we took advantage," Miller explained. "The back nine was a bit harder, but we played the first part really well."
Records prior to the 2000 season are incomplete, but the Broncos easily scored their best round since then, bettering the 267 carded at the Pacific Invitational during the 2013-14 season.
Junior Derek Ackerman was the fourth member of the team to shoot below 70 with a 3-under 69. He ended the day tied for 13th with teammate Berk Harvey, who is competing as an individual. Zack Kaneshiro was under the weather for the first round, according to Miller, and shot a 1-over 73.
"It will be hard to score like that again, but if we continue to play well we could win this," Miller noted. Second-round action begins from the 1st and 10th holes at 7 a.m. PT. The Broncos will tee off from hole No. 1 at 8:40 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.
Santa Clara 1st Round Individual Results
1. Hayden Shieh 64 = (-8)
T2. Matt McCarty 65 = (-7)
T5. Jack Avrit 67 = (-5)
T13. Berk Harvey* 69 = (-3)
T13. Derek Ackerman 69 = (-3)
T56. Zack Kaneshiro 73 = (+1)
*Competing as an individual