Davies leads Bucs on Monday

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (May 15, 2023) – The ETSU men’s golf team sits in fourth place following opening round play of the Las Vegas Regional, which got underway Monday from Bear’s Best Las Vegas.

Led by redshirt junior Archie Davies (Carlisle, England), the Blue & Gold did their damage early in the round on Monday. ETSU, looking to advance to its third straight NCAA Championship, played its first nine holes (starting on the back nine) at 15-under en route to posting an opening round score of 16-under-par 272.

Arizona State holds the team lead as the fourth-ranked Sun Devils shot a 26-under-par 262. Arizona State has a six-shot lead over No. 8 Stanford (-20) and a seven-stroke advantage over No. 16 Virginia (-19).

All five Buccaneers finished with scores below par on Monday as ETSU sits four shots ahead of three teams who are tied for fifth place. No. 21 Oklahoma State, UNCG and Davidson are all at 12-under-par 276, while a trio of teams are tied for eighth at 11-under-par 277.

Individually, Davies is tied for seventh at 6-under-par 66 thanks to registering one eagle, six birdies, nine pars and two bogeys in the opening round. Davies began the day with a birdie on the par-4, 411-yard No. 10, while carding his second birdie on the par-3, 151-yard No. 13 and an eagle on the par-5, 537-yard No. 17. After playing his first nine holes at four-under, Davies played his final nine holes at two-under.

Sophomore Jack Tickle (Bristol, Tenn.) – who was inserted into ETSU’s lineup late on Sunday – registered the Bucs’ second-lowest score in round one. Tickle is tied for 19th at 4-under-par 68. The Bristol, Tenn. native recorded three birdies, five pars and one bogey on both the front and back nine.

ETSU’s other two countable scores came from redshirt sophomore Mats Ege (Kristiansand, Norway) and freshman Matty Dodd-Berry (Wirral, England.) as they are both tied for 25th at 3-under-par 69.

Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays, the No. 11 ranked player via Golfstat, is the 18-hole leader at 10-under-par 62. Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, who is ranked No. 3 via Golfstat, is one shot off the lead, while two golfers are tied for third at 8-under 64.

As a team, ETSU led the 14-team field in par-3 scoring (-4), while the Bucs posted the most pars (57) and tied for the fourth-most birdies (24) in round one. Davies paced the 75-player field in par-3 scoring as well as he played the four holes at two-under on Monday.

The Bucs will be grouped with Oklahoma State and UNCG in Tuesday’s second round. The teams tee off at 11 a.m. ET from No. 10.

Fans can follow live scoring via Golfstat.com. In addition, live tweets will be available by following the Bucs on Twitter @ETSU_MGolf.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.