SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – Led by junior Geuntae Kim and freshman Shiso Go, the ETSU men’s golf team wrapped up day one of the Cardinal Challenge on Friday from the Louisville Golf Club.
Both Kim and Go fired an even-par 72 and find themselves tied for 10th after opening-round play. Kim – the reigning Southern Conference medalist – put together a consistent round as he tallied three birdies, 12 pars and three bogeys, while Go finished strong to move up the leaderboard. Go was 3-over after his first seven holes, but managed to register three birdies over a four-hole stretch to get back to even-par thru No. 11. From there, the Buccaneer freshman totaled a birdie, five pars and a bogey in his final seven holes to end with the 72.
The Buccaneer duo is four shots off the lead as a group of four golfers sits atop the leaderboard at 4-under-par 68, while Eastern Kentucky’s Erik Lindwall is in fifth at 2-under 70. Louisville’s Simon Zach and Erik Dulik, along with Louisiana’s Triston Elston and Miami University’s Patrick Flavin, all hold a share of the lead.
Miami University holds a grip of the team lead as it recorded a 4-under-par 284 and leads tournament host Louisville by two strokes and Louisiana by eight shots.
ETSU carded a 7-over-par 295 in Friday’s opening round to secure fifth place in the 13-team field.
The Bucs’ other two countable scores came from freshmen Austin Carter and Jack Rhea. Carter is tied for 29th at 2-over 74 and Rhea is tied for 54th at 5-over 77. Carter played the final five holes at 1-under to move into the top 30; however, Rhea suffered the opposite fate. Rhea was even-par when making the turn but played his first five holes on the back nine at 5-over before ending with a birdie on No. 17 and a bogey on No. 18.
Sophomore Trevor Hulbert – playing as an individual – is making his season debut this weekend. Hulbert shot a 1-over 73 and is tied for 17th after round one. Hulbert registered nine consecutive pars to start the day before carding the first of two birdies on the par-4, 383-yard No. 10. However, after back-to-back pars, Hulbert walked away with a double-bogey on the par-5 13th and a bogey on the par-4 14th before ending the afternoon with three pars and a birdie.
Second-round play begins Saturday at 9 a.m., while ETSU tees off at 9:50. The Blue and Gold are paired with Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky.