HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. -- Opening up a five-stroke lead after the first 18 holes of play, the Christopher Newport men's golf team fired a nine-over 297 on Tuesday at the Alvernia Fall Invitational. The Captains were led by senior
Michael Thomas (-2), who dropped in a pair of Eagles in his opening round and finished the opening round in second place.
The Captains finished nine-over par after the first round and are currently five strokes ahead of second place Albright (+14). The next three in order were Penn College (+24), Elizabethtown (+32), and Alvernia (+39). As a team, CNU recorded 12 birdies and 56 pars between the five golfers on Tuesday with all five scores at 77 or better.
Thomas highlighted the day with his two eagles, including a highlight-reel shot on the 373-yard par four 10th hole. He knocked in his second shot and sat at a tournament best four-under through ten holes following eight pars and his other Eagle on the front. On the back nine, Thomas added two more birdies and three pars to wrap up his day with a two-under 70 to match his season-best score this year.
Two more CNU players are tied for fifth on the individual leaderboard as
Owen Cook and
Stephen Patterson each fired three-over 75's. Not far behind,
Nick Alexander and
Brian O'Dea are also locked into the top ten on the individual leaderboard with five-over 77's.
Patterson had a very clean scorecard on day one, including a run of eight straight pars at the start of his round. He added five more on the back to lead the team with 13 total pars on the day. He also added a four on the 596-yard par five 11th hole and closed out his day with a 75 (37-38).
Matching his score was Cook, who sank a team-high three birdies on Tuesday. He opened the round with a three on the 335-yard par four 1st hole and added birdies on 11 and the 511-yard par five 15th. Additionally, Cook had nine pars to finish with a 75 (38-37).
Rounding out the counting scores on Tuesday was a 77 from either Alexander or O'Dea. O'Dea had six pars on the front and a birdie on the 481-yard par five 8th. He added five more pars on the back to close out his day with a 77 (37-40). Alexander had one of the best efforts on the back nine for the five CNU golfers, with eight of the nine holes at par or better. He finished out with a 40 on the front and 37 on the back with birdies on the 156-yard par three 3rd and the 331-yard par four 14th.
CNU will return to the course on Wednesday to play the second round of the 36-hole tournament at Bulle Rock Golf Course. Live scoring is available with a link posted on the schedule at CNUsports.com.
