HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's golf team carded an even par round of 288 and are in third place after day one of the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Championship. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being contested at the par-72, 6,605-yard Lake Hickory Country Club.

TU senior Riley Brown is tied for second place individually with his three-under par 69 and is two shots out of the lead.

Anderson University, the top-ranked team in the country, posted an eight-under par team score of 280 and lead by six strokes over second place and tournament host Lenoir-Rhyne University (286).

Brown finished his opening round with six birdies and three bogeys for his season-low 69, just one shot shy of a career-best. He is two strokes behind first round leader Alejandro DeCastro of Anderson. The 2023 SAC Freshman of the Year posted a 67 which included six birdies on his final 11 holes on Sunday.

Joining Brown in second place are Calahan Keever (Anderson), Liam Waldron (Lenoir-Rhyne) and Kristoffer Larsson (Limestone).

Tusculum freshman Nicholas Taggart shot a one-under par 71 and is in a four-way tie for seventh place. His opening nine holes included four birdies and three bogeys for a 35. He would bogey back-to-back holes on his inward nine, but rebounded shooting two-under par for his final five holes.

TU senior Thomas Kollberg finished with 72 and is tied for 11^th. Kollberg was three-under par after six holes, but four bogeys over his next 10 had him at +1. He birdied his final hole with a 10-foot birdie putt to get to level par for his round.

Junior Liam van Deventer is tied for 32^nd with 76, while Isak Holter shot 78 and is in 42^nd.

Coker University finished with 293 and is in fourth place, followed by Limestone (294), Carson-Newman (296), Lincoln Memorial (297), Wingate (301), Newberry (301), Catawba (304), UVA Wise (328) and Mars Hill (328).

Tusculum's 288 is its second-lowest opening round to a SAC Championship in program history. TU posted a first day 283 at last year's league tournament hosted by the Pioneers at Graysburg Hills.

The second round of the SAC Championship will begin with tee times starting at 8:30 a.m. The final round will be contested on Tuesday with the winner earning the league's automatic berth to next month's NCAA Division II Championship.

2023 SAC Men's Golf Championship

Tusculum Individual Scores