GREENSBORO, Ga. (April 21, 2024) – The Buccaneers' quest for a fourth straight Southern Conference crown is off to a strong start.
 
Fueled by the stellar play of Matty Dodd-Berry and Mats Ege, the 20th-ranked ETSU men's golf team overcame rainy conditions to build a nine-shot lead after Sunday's opening round play of the SoCon Championship from The Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
 
The Bucs registered one eagle and 22 birdies on Sunday en route to firing a 13-under-par 275. ETSU leads Chattanooga by nine shots and Furman by 11. The Mocs are in second at 4-under-par 284 and Furman is third at 2-under-par 286.
 
Dodd-Berry and Ege, who packed the one-two punch at last year's championship, followed suit yet again. The Buccaneer duo combined to shoot 12-under in round one with Dodd-Berry posting a career-low 7-under-par 65 and holds a two-shot advantage atop the individual leaderboard.
 
Dodd-Berry, who finished runner-up to Ege at last year's championship, was flawless on Sunday. The reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year totaled seven birdies and 11 pars to help the Blue & Gold take control of the team lead. Dodd-Berry opened with back-to-back birdies and enjoyed a run of three straight after making the turn. The Buccaneer sophomore carded his final birdie on the par-5, 560-yard No. 17 to post the 65.
 
Ege sits tied for second with Chattanooga and former Buccaneer Samuel Espinosa-Trueba at 5-under 67. Ege played his first 12 holes at four-under before making his only blemish on the par-3, 205-yard No. 13 where he walked away with his lone bogey on the round. The reigning SoCon champion carded back-to-back birdies on No. 16-17 to help extend ETSU's lead over the Mocs.
 
Making his SoCon Championship debut, Jenson Forrester is tied for ninth at 1-under 71, while Remi Chartier provided the other countable score as the 2022 SoCon champion is tied for 12th at even-par 72. Like Dodd-Berry, Forrester opened with back-to-back birdies; however, the red-shirt freshman was assessed a two-stroke penalty on the par-4, No. 6, moving him back to even. Forrester bounced back nicely to finish the front nine with birdie-par-birdie, while posting eight pars and one bogey on the back nine to produce the 71. Chartier provided the Bucs' lone eagle on Sunday as he moved to one-under on the round with a three on No. 17 before giving one shot back on par-4, 481-yard No. 18.
 
The Bucs, looking to secure their 24th all-time SoCon title, played holes 10-thru-12 at eight-under thanks to Dodd-Berry and Algot Kleen registering birdies on all three holes. Chattanooga had the next closest score over those three holes at one-under.
 
ETSU will be grouped with Chattanooga in Monday's second round with the Bucs teeing off starting at 9:55 a.m.
 
Fans can follow live scoring at Golfstat.com.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf page.