PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Chaminade University men's golf team on Monday opened the first round of the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship in second at the par-72 TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley Course.
The Silverswords, making their first-ever national postseason tournament appearance, shot 306 in the opening round of the Division II category, five shots behind team leader Lincoln University of Missouri. They are four shots ahead of No. 3 Bluefield State (West Virginia).
Ethan Alexander (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) fired a first-round even-par 72, putting him in second, four shots behind Lincoln's Austin Shoemaker for the individual lead.
Jack Yeager (San Clemente, Calif./JSerra Catholic) is tied for seventh overall after carding a 3-over-par 75. The freshman got himself back into the individual top 10 by shooting 3-under in his final three holes including a chip-in for eagle on the par-4 7th.
Zachary DuBourdieu (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek) opened his round with a 79 followed by
Ky Stopp (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson) at 80 and
Blake Buonopane (Rowley, Mass./St. John's Prep) at 88.
Round 2 of the championship moves to the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course where NBC Sports' Golf Channel and its streaming app, Peacock, will have live coverage starting at 9 a.m. Hawai'i time. Buonopane will be the first Silversword to tee off on Tuesday, starting at the 10th hole at 5:05 a.m. HST. Alexander will be in the final group which tees off at 5:57 a.m.
Called "the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf," the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship hosts student-athletes enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) across all three NCAA divisions, NAIA and junior colleges. Chaminade is a Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Serving institution.
