STOCKTON, Calif. – In a strong field that includes two nationally-ranked teams, South Dakota is 14th after Monday's first round of the Visit Stockton Invitational hosted by Pacific at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
The Coyotes opened with a 302 on Monday afternoon on the West Coast, with
Ben Hicks leading the card after an opening round of 73. Hicks carried over his strong momentum from last week's final round at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate, where the sophomore fired a 68; Monday's round marks the first time this fall that Hicks has carded the lowest opening round for South Dakota.
San Jose State holds a four-stroke lead over No. 35 Long Beach State through 18 holes, and No. 5 BYU is tied for seventh but well within striking distance of the lead, just nine strokes back. Sean Yu of San Jose State recorded an eight-under 64 and leads the field by four shots after the opening day. That field includes eight nationally-ranked players, including BYU's Peter Kuest, currently the No. 1 golfer in the nation in Golfstat's latest rankings.
Hicks' strong opening round has him tied for 25th, one shot ahead of No. 89 Owen Avrit of Long Beach State.
Matt Tolan and
Justin Kolb had matching scores of 75 in their opening rounds and are tied for 51st, followed by
Scott Fudenberg's 79 on the par-72, 7,315-yard layout.
Jacob Michel closed out the Coyote card with an 83 and will be looking to make a move up the leaderboard beginning Tuesday morning.
Competing as an individual for South Dakota,
Hunter Paugh matched Fudenberg's 79 and broke 80 for the second consecutive round after closing out the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate with a 76 last week.
South Dakota will return to The Reserve at Spanos Park tomorrow morning for the second round of the tournament before closing out its fall campaign on Wednesday. The Coyotes will then take the winter off from competition before returning at the Martin Downs Collegiate in mid-February.
