Hilton Head Island, S.C. – Paced by junior Magnus Pedersen in a tie for third with a 1-under par round of 71, Western Carolina men's golf was among a three-way tie for fifth with an opening-round score of 296 at the Wexford Intercollegiate at the par-72, 6,913-yard Wexford Plantation.
 
Monday's second round was halted due to darkness just a few holes shy of completion. Teams will complete the second 18 holes on Tuesday morning before completing the tournament with the third round. Live scoring through GolfStat is available online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Pedersen carded five birdies in Monday's first round to counter a triple-bogey on the par-4 first and a bogey on his final hole of the opening round to manage his 1-under par opening round of 71.
 
Sophomore Presten Richardson carded an eagle on his 18th hole of the first round to finish with a 3-over par 75 to sit tied with freshmen teammates Jake Peacock and Kyle Kushnir. Peacock rallied from 4-over par with four birdies over his final nine holes before a double-bogey on the par-5 15th to finish at 75 while Kushnir countered six bogeys with three birdies for his 3-over par round.
 
Rounding WCU's scoring five was senior Tumi Kúld with a first-round 90. Playing unattached as an individual, freshman Kiefer Bulau was tied for 72nd on Monday with an 8-over par round of 80.
 
Tournament-host Francis Marion led the 17-team field by three strokes over a two-way tie between Mercer and Augusta, 289-to-292. Another Southern Conference foe Furman was fourth at 295 with WCU tied with both East Carolina and Temple a stroke back in fifth.
 
Augusta's Alex van Wyk paced the field with a 3-under par 69, charting a trio of birdies in a bogey-free round.
 
T5 – Western Carolina – 296 (+8)
T3 – Magnus Pedersen – 71 (-1)
T32 – Presten Richardson – 75 (+3)
T32 – Jake Peacock – 75 (+3)
T32 – Kyle Kushnir – 75 (+3)
90 – Tumi Kúld – 90 (+18)
T72 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 80 (+8)