PENFIELD, N.Y. – All five University of Rochester golfers scored rounds of 77 or better to open play at the NCAA Division III Golf Championships at Midvale Country Club on Tuesday afternoon.
Rochester recorded an overall team score of 299 to sit in a tie for 11th place among the 43 teams in the field. Half the teams competed at Midvale Country Club, while the remaining teams played at Cobblestone Creek Country Club.
On the team leaderboard, 5th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University leads the way after carding a 2-over par round of 290. Two teams, John Carroll and Carleton sit four strokes behind after the opening 18 holes.
A balanced effort from the Yellowjackets saw first-year Alvin Su and sophomore Arjun Aujla both finish with first round scores of 2-over, 74 on Tuesday.
Aujla led the Yellowjackets with four birdies on the round and was 2-under par after his first ten holes on the round. Sun provided a steady presence in the lineup, recording pars on 11 of his 18 holes in round one. Both players are tied for 31st on the individual leaderboard.
Fellow first-year Luke Evans battled to a 3-over par round of 75 on Tuesday and was one of three Rochester players to birdie the par-5, tenth hole, Rochester's first hole of the tournament. Evans is 53rd overall in the field.
Rochester's fourth scoring golfer was first-year Eddie Ren who recorded a 4-over par round of 76 along the par-72, 6,558-yard layout at Midvale. Ren notched four birdies, matching Aujla for the team lead, ending his round tied for 75th among the field of competitors.
Sophomore Shibo Wang finished at 5-over, 77 in his first round. Wang did all his damage on the par five's, recording all three of his birdies on those holes. That included a miraculous up-and-down from the short side of the green on the 544-yard third hole.
Rochester's 299 team score is just the seventh round below 300 at the NCAA Championships in team history, spanning 86 total rounds. 2025 is the Yellowjackets 25th all-time appearance in NCAA play, dating to as far back as 1949.
A pair of players, Edward Coffren of Lynchburg and Will Karkoc of Bethel hold the individual lead after day one, both shooting 4-under par rounds of 68 at Cobblestone Creek Country Club.
Rochester takes to the course tomorrow at Cobblestone Creek, with the field all starting together with a shotgun start at 8 am. Following the second round on Wednesday, the field will be trimmed to the top-18 teams and top-5 individuals not on one of those teams.
The final two rounds on Thursday and Friday are set to be played at Midvale Country Club.