The No. 1 Emory men's golf team began play in the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invite on Friday, joining some of the nation's top teams for the event in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The opening round was played on the King and Prince Golf Club's Par-71, 6,515-yard course. After the first round of play, the Eagles find themselves tied for seventh place, carding a score of 294 (+10). The Eagles will head into day two 10 strokes off the leader, Rhodes College. The Lynx own a commanding lead, with second-place Lynchburg remaining five strokes off the pace.
The front nine at King and Prince were unkind to Emory, with the team turning in a combined score of 189 (+9) on the opening half of their round. The Eagles reigned it in on the back nine, though, with the top-four golfers combining to shoot just two over par.
Junior Michael Burry was Emory's most consistent golfer on Friday, tallying just two bogeys and knocking in one birdy. After picking up an impressive 15 pars, Burry carded a 72 (+1), to find himself tied for 19th on the individual leaderboard. Burry's 15 pars are tied for the most by any player in the entire tournament. The junior finds himself five strokes off the leader, Lynchburg's Andrew Watson, heading into day two.
Sophomore Brian Hanson also turned in a 72 (+1) on Friday, seeing him tied for 19th with Burry on the leaderboard heading into day two. Hanson's day was a bit more up-and-down than Burry's was, recording five bogeys but salvaged his score with four birdies, two of which came on par 5s.
Senior Jackson Klutznick finds himself in the top-half of the individual leaderboard as well, turning in a 74 (+3) in his first round. The senior stayed relatively consistent all day, heading into the final three holes just one stroke over par. However, two bogeys over his final three holes saw him finish three strokes over par to place him tied for 41st on the individual leaderboard.
Junior Tony Li was overall very steady during his first round, recording 11 pars and two birdies. But a triple-bogey on hole six hurt Li's overall score, as he finished his opening round with a 76 (+5). The junior rebounded well from his front nine, where he shot five over par to shoot even on the back nine. Li will enter the second day of the event tied for 60th place.
Rounding out the scores for the Eagles was junior Josh Qian. Qian shot one stroke over par on the front nine, but struggled down the stretch, shooting nine over par on the final nine holes of his first round. His first-round score comes to 81 (+10) and is tied for 130th heading into day two.
The Eagles will play their second round tomorrow with tee Emory's times starting at 1:31 PM in St. Simons Island.