CAMDEN, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's golf team opened with a 293 and are in fifth place after day one of the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Championship. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being held at the par-70 Camden Country Club and hosted by Coker College.
TU freshman Kyle Engelbert led the charge for the Pioneers with his one-under par round of 69 and is tied for fourth place. He is three shots behind first round leader Harry Bolton of Newberry College who carded a 66 (-4). Engelbert was one of only seven golfers in the field to post red numbers.
Newberry shot 278 (-2) and has a six-stroke lead over Coker (284) and is nine shots clear of Queens University of Charlotte (287). Lincoln Memorial University is fourth with 291, followed by Tusculum, Catawba College (294), Wingate University (296), Carson-Newman University (297), Lenoir-Rhyne University (298), Anderson University (308) and Mars Hill University (309).
Starting on the 10th hole, Engelbert was two-over par after six holes, but he birdied his eighth hole of the day sandwiched between two pars to shoot 36 on his outward nine. He posted four birdies with three pars and two bogeys to post a 33 on his second nine holes.
Tusculum's Noah Jones is tied for 12th following his two-over par tally of 72. His round included three birdies, five bogeys and 10 pars.
The TU trio of Jeffery Perez, Liam Sweeney and Matt DiBella each shot 76 and are locked in a tie for 31st place.
The second round of the SAC Championship will be played on Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tusculum's first tee time is slated for 10 a.m. as the Pioneers will be paired with Lincoln Memorial and Catawba.