By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- Austin Davis (Sr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) of Willamette University completed the first round of the NCAA Division III Golf Championship tied for 14th place with a 1-over par 72 on the Las Colinas course at the Mission Inn Resort and Club on Tuesday, May 10. Willamette finished the day holding 23rd place in the team standings at 311.

The Bearcats, who opened the day with an early tee time on the back nine, had a difficult first nine holes, as the team entered the turn at 22-over par. On the front nine, Willamette earned seven birdies and shot 5-over.

Willamette played on the more difficult Las Colinas course with a par of 71, while about half of the field played on the par 72 El Campeon course. All 43 and 221 individuals will switch courses for the second round on Wednesday, May 1, with Willamette's tee times on the first hole of the El Campeon course starting at 12:35 p.m. (EDT)/9:35 a.m. (PDT).

Davis earned four birdies during the first round to offset three bogies and one double-bogey. He shot 2-under 33 on the front nine with birdies on the second, fifth, and eighth holes.

In addition to ending the round in a tie for 14th, Davis finished the 18 holes just three strokes out of second place and four strokes out of the lead. He was one stroke out of a tie for seventh place.

Also golfing for the Bearcats on Tuesday were Alex Weirth (Sr., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy), Andrew Kibbee (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS), Paxton Jones (Fy., Wellington, NZ/Scots College), and Riley Lankford (Sr., Pilot Rock, OR/Pilot Rock HS).

Weirth shot a 78, including six pars on the front nine and 11 pars overall. Kibbee carded an 80, while Jones and Lankford each shot 81. During Willamette's strong run on the front nine, Kibbee and Jones both registered 2-over par 37s.

William Knauth from Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) topped the individual leaderboard with a 3-under par 69 on the El Campeon course. Three golfers -- Grant Gronka of Huntingdon College (Ala.), JF Aber from Wittenberg University (Ohio), and Cooper Hrabak from Methodist University (N.C.) -- were tied for second place at 2-under par. Gronka carded a 69 on the par 71 Las Colinas course, while Aber and Hrabak each shot 70 on the par 72 El Campeon course.

Two golfers shared fifth place at 1-under-par 71 at El Campeon. They were Justin Chan from Carnegie Mellon and Nick Rubino from Hampden-Sydney College (Va.). A seven-way tie followed for seventh place at even par.

Carnegie Mellon led the team standings at even-par 288 on the El Campeon course. Huntingdon followed in second place with a 3-over 287 at Las Colinas. Methodist held third place at 4-over par 292, while Emory University (Ga.) and Hampden-Sydney were tied for fourth place at 8-over 296. Methodist, Emory, and Hampden-Sydney all played at the El Campeon course.