LAHAINA, Hawaii (Oct. 26, 2023) — ETSU leader
Mats Ege paced the eighth-ranked Buccaneers in the opening round of the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate on Thursday from the Ka'anapali Golf Course.
Ege, who stormed out of the gates, fired a 5-under 66 and is tied for eighth following 18 holes of competition out in Hawaii. The redshirt senior started with three birdies and an eagle over his first four holes, but then played the final 14 at even-par to finish with the 66. Ege, who was coming off a trip at the World Amateur Team Championship last weekend in Abu Dhabi, got to six-under on the day following his sixth and final birdie of the round on the par-3, 155-yard No. 17; however, he gave the shot right back with a bogey on the par-4, 18th. From there, Ege finished with three straight pars to complete his round.
Ege is just three shots off the lead as North Florida's Robbie Higgins posted an 8-under 63 on Thursday. Higgins leads the field by one shot as three golfers recorded a 7-under 64 in the opener.
As a team, the Bucs sit tied for fourth after day one at 12-under-par 272. ETSU, who is tied with last year's champion Oklahoma, is 10 strokes back of leader Liberty. The Flames fired a 22-under-par 262 to jump out to the lead. Georgia sits in second at 18-under 266 and San Jose State is third at 15-under 269.
ETSU's other countable scores came from
Archie Davies (T19, -3),
Matty Dodd-Berry (T27, -2) and
Remi Chartier (T27, -2).
Like Ege, Chartier and Davies both got off to strong starts but couldn't keep things rolling. Chartier was four-under through his first four holes but played the final 14 at two-over to finish with a 69. Davies played his first four holes at three-under and then finished the rest of the round at even-par.
The Bucs will be grouped with Liberty, Georgia and San Jose State in Friday's second round, which begins with a shotgun start at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Fans can follow live scoring via
Golfstat.
For more information on Buccaneer men's golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf tab.
