FLOURTOWN, Pa. – The Penn State men's golf team wrapped up its first day of the 2019 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in eighth place with a team total 294 (+14). The Nittany Lions are just three strokes out of the top five as Iowa and Indiana are tied for sixth with identical 13-over 293 scores and Michigan State and Rutgers are tied for fourth at 11-over 291. Purdue leads the field with a 2-over 282.
Junior Alec Bard had the best outing among the Nittany Lions on Friday with a 2-over 72 to tie for 15th with his individual score.
"It was a tough day to play with one long rain delay and then some wind kicked up," said Penn State head men's golf coach Greg Nye. "We played well early, but it was a grind to hang in there with the four who were playing best."
In the individual competition, Minnesota's Angus Flanagan sits in first place after the first round with a 5-under 65, a score that tied the Wissahickon Course record. The Boilermakers hold three of the top five individual spots with Jarle Volden posting a 68 (-2) for second, Timmy Hildebrand in a tie for third with a 69 (-1) and Joe Weiler tied for fifth with a 70 (E).
Individuals will begin teeing off at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday for the second round. Live scoring for is available online.
The majority of the Nittany Lions had more success on the front nine in the first round as Bard played even with a birdie on No. 6. He posted a back nine score of 37 after bogeys on No. 14 and No. 17 to end his round. Junior Ryan Davis came in tied for 24th with a 35 on the back nine for a 3-over 73.
Senior Ryan Dornes recorded duplicate scores of 37 on the front and back nines for a Friday first-round 4-over 74 total. In a tie for 28th, he was at 1-over through No. 13 after a birdie on No 10, but was tripped up with bogeys on holes 14, 16 and 18.
A solid 1-over 36 on the front nine helped offset Charles Huntzinger's trouble on holes No. 14 and No. 18. The senior tied for 36th with his 5-over 75 on the day. Senior JD Hughes struggled with a 6-over on his front nine, barely getting his round started when the weather halted play. He came back with a birdie on No. 8, but finished the day with a 14-over 84 for 70th.
Play was suspended for approximately an hour and the course was cleared late Friday morning as a heavy thunderstorm moved through the area.
For the latest updates on the team follow @PennStateMGolf on Twitter, "like" the Penn State Men's Golf page on Facebook, and follow head coach Greg Nye on Instagram @CoachNyePSU.
