2023 WAC Men's Golf Championship Round 1 Results

BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The top two seeds in the 2023 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Men’s Golf Championship put on a show in the tournament’s opening round on Friday on a sunny but windy day at Boulder Creek Golf Club. No. 1 seed Sam Houston fired a 14-under-par score of 274 to a take a three-shot lead over No. 2 NM State (277, -11) after 18 holes on the near 7,500-yard, par-72 layout.

The field averaged a score of 73.05 over 65 completed rounds in the first round of play. WAC golfers played a total of five holes under par, with the 579-yard par-5 13th hole the easiest on the course. No. 13 yielded 11 eagles, 29 birdies and just four bogeys on the opening day of the tournament.

Grand Canyon joined the lead pack in third place with a team score of 8-under-par 280. Seattle U was in fourth place at 5-under 283, and Utah Tech and Tarleton shared fifth place with matching scores of 1-under-par 287 to begin the 2023 WAC tournament.

NM State’s Garrett Smith turned in his second career 8-under-par 64 at the conference championship, birdieing seven holes with one eagle to miss equaling the tournament single-round scoring record by one stroke and take a two-shot lead over Sam Houston’s Bret Gray and Utah Tech’s Davis Heslington (66, -6) on the individual leaderboard. Grand Canyon’s Matthew Braley shared fourth place with a bogey-free 5-under 67, joining Sam Houston’s Josh German who raced home with a back nine score of 30 on his way to 67. A total of 32 of the 65 players in the field finished at even par or better in the first round.

Round two of the 2023 WAC Men’s Golf Championship will begin at 7 a.m. PT on Saturday at Boulder Creek Golf Club.

 

--WAC--