BOULDER CITY, NV – The University of Rochester golf team turned in a terrific round to open play at the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships on Tuesday afternoon, shooting a team score of 296 at the Legacy Golf Club.
 
UR's team score matches the team record for lowest round at an NCAA Championship, tying the marks set at the 1990 and 2014 tournaments. Tuesday's round put the Yellowjackets at 8-over par for the day.
 
All five golfers posted rounds of 76 or lower on the par-72, 7,077-yard layout at the Legacy, with Rochester going out in the morning wave. Overall, 43 teams and 221 individuals make up the field. After day one, UR is tied for 21st place. 
 
After a par-filled front nine holes (UR started on hole ten), the Yellowjackets were a little more up and down on the inward nine holes. Rochester managed to finish strong though, shooting a combined 4-under over the final three holes among the counting scores.
 
Rochester's leader on the opening day was first-year Shibo Wang who carded 1-under par round of 71. On Wang's front nine, he started out with three pars before a birdie on the par-4 13th hole got him into red figures. A bogey on the next hole set him back a shot, but he regained that stroke on the par-5 17th. His back nine featured two bogeys and two birdies to reach the 1-under round. Wang ranks tied for 33rd on the individual leaderboard.
 
Senior Tom Liu was steady for the duration of his round, tracking a team best 14 pars on his scorecard. Liu opened his round with eight straight holes at level par, before scoring a bogey on the 18th hole. A birdie after the turn on number two got him back to even, with Liu closing with two bogeys in the final few holes to finish at 2-over, 74. Liu's round has him in a tie for 80th. 
 
Graduate student Brendan Frain went birdie-birdie on his final two holes of the day, on eight and nine, to finish off a strong round of 3-over, 75. Frain had seven pars and two bogeys during the front nine and sat at 5-over through 15 holes, before shooting two pars and two birdies in the stretch run to sit in a tie for 105th after 18 holes. 
 
UR's fourth scoring individual was a tie between senior Kerry Wang and junior Gary Pan who both recorded 4-over par rounds of 75. Wang carded +2 scores on both the front and back nine, recording six bogeys and two birdies on his scorecard. Pan went out in an even-par score of 36, but finished off his round at +4 over the final nine holes. Both sit in 121st place individually.
 
First-and-second ranked Methodist and Emory are holding serve as the early team leaders, shooting team scores of 271 and 272, respectively, both of whom were playing on the Boulder Creek Golf Club course on day one.
 
Emory's Jackson Klutznick shot an 8-under par round of 64 to open the tournament and holds the individual lead.
 
Rochester's second round will tee off at noon (pacific time) on Wednesday morning at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
 
Following Wednesday's second round, the field will be cut to the top-18 scoring teams and top-6 individuals not on those teams, with those players capping off the 72-hole event at nationals.