SILVIS, Ill. – Competing in their first ever team appearance at the NAIA National Championship, the NCU Beacons opened play on Tuesday afternoon. Oregon Tech's Montana Frame also competed and landed in the top-ten.
NCU shot a 334 as a team, settling for 27th place after the first round. The back nine was especially troublesome for the Beacons as they found a collective 32-over across holes 10-18.
Jack Singleton bucked the trend, however, shooting an even 36 on the back nine to finish the day at ten-over par. Singleton also had two of the Beacons three birdies of the day. The other belonged to senior Austin Dame.
Leading NCU was the only player to have previously competed at a national championship, sophomore Josh Goins who was an individual qualifier in 2016 on the same TPC-Deer Run course. Goins finished the day at 6-over 77 and currently sits in 54th place.
The Beacons might not have had a great opening round but one of their playing-parter schools did. Cardinal Stritch University out of Wisconsin currently leads the tournament with a collective 5-over par 289, giving them a four-shot lead over Johnson & Wales (Florida). Top-seed Oklahoma City is 17 shots back in 13th place.
Only six of the 155 golfers finished the first day with scores under par, led by -2 69’s from David Houlding of William Woods and Rowan Lester from Texas Wesleyan.
Frame is in a group of seven players all sitting at even-par in seventh place. Frame qualified as an individual though a wild card berth.
NCU teed off in the afternoon and on the front-nine on Monday and that role will be reversed on Tuesday when the start on hole 10 during the morning session. NCU’s first golfer will start at 9:10 am local time with the last, Goins, getting on the course at 9:50 am. Frame will be one of the last to tee off at 2:20 pm on hole one.