NEWTON, Kan. – South Dakota junior Scott Fudenberg completed the opening round of the Summit League Championship tied for second place after shooting a 70 on Sunday. As a team, the Coyotes are in fourth place with 298 shots at Sand Creek Station Golf Club.
 
Fudenberg is one of five players in the field to be under par after 18 holes with his 2-under-par 70. He totaled five birdies along with 10 pars, picking right up where he left last year's championship. In the 2018 edition at the same course, Fudenberg placed third overall shooting 4-over-par.
 
Junior Matt Tolan shot 2-over-par with 74 strokes to enter round two tied for 13^th while sophomore Tate Arends is tied for 22^nd with 76 shots. Sophomore Jacob Michel is tied for 31^st with 78 strokes with senior Tommy Vining rounding out the Coyote scoring with 79 strokes and in 35^th place.
 
"Scott had a great round," head coach John Vining said. "I am proud of his attitude today. He showed great patience and it showed on his scorecard.
 
"We did not have our best stuff but the guys finished well and we are right in this tournament."
 
South Dakota's 298 strokes are 10-over-par, just six strokes behind third place Denver with 292 shots. Oral Roberts and South Dakota State share the 18-hole lead with 290 strokes each. Jared Nicolls of SDSU is the leader in the clubhouse with 68 shots at 4-under-par.
 
All five Coyotes tallied a birdie in the opening round, led by Fudenberg's five. That mark ranks second in the field while the junior leads the field with an average of 4.25 shots on the four par-5 holes.
 
Due forecasted storms on Tuesday, the final 36 holes will be played on Monday. The second round gets underway at 8 a.m. with the third round to follow. Sand Creek Station Golf Club is playing 6,931 yards and to a par 72.