FARMINGDALE, NY – The University of Rochester golf team holds the first round lead after the opening round of the Farmingdale State College Spring Invitational at Bethpage State Park's Red Course.
 
Rochester's first round score was a 2-over par, 282, a season-best for the Yellowjackets and tying the second best single-round team score program history, trailing only the 280 set back in 2014 at the Liberty League Fall Qualifier.
 
First-year Luke Evans led the Yellowjackets with a terrific 3-under par round of 67, ranking as the fourth best round in program history in overall strokes. Evans leads the field after the opening round, with a one-stroke lead over two other players.
 
Only three other golfers in Rochester program history have bettered Evans' 67 score, with All-American's Nick Palladino, Greg Perry and Chris Sladish all scoring rounds of 66 in Yellowjacket colors.
 
On Saturday, Evans started off with three straight pars before back-to-back birdies on his fourth and fifth holes of the day. After four more pars, Evans made the turn at 33, bookending his back nine with birdies on holes 10 and 18. His only blemish was a bogey on the par-4, 14th hole.
 
Sophomore Arjun Aujla also signed for a number below par, shooting a career-best 1-under round of 69 on the par-70, 7,092-yard course layout at Bethpage. He is tied for fourth overall in the field and matched Evans with an opening nine hole score of 33. He birdied the fifth and seventh holes and later had back-to-back birdies on numbers 15 and 16.
 
Shibo Wang made it three Rochester golfers in the top-10 on day one, ranking tied for eighth in the field that features 88 total golfers, after finishing with an even-par score of 70. The sophomore was a third Yellowjacket to shoot 2-under, 33, on his opening nine holes, and after three bogeys in his first four holes on the back nine, Wang closed strong with four pars and a birdie coming in.
 
First-year's Eddie Ren and Alvin Su both shot 6-over, 76's on Saturday to tie for the fourth scoring player in Rochester's lineup. Both sit in a tie for 50th in the field after day one.
 
The Yellowjackets also have junior Josh Pethel playing in the event as an individual, with Pethel carding an opening round 77 (7-over) to rank tied for 60th on the leaderboard.
 
Tee times for the second and final round on Sunday begin at 9 am, with Rochester teeing off later in the morning due to holding the first round lead.