Round One Results

HUMACAO, Puerto Rico - Josiah Tong fired an even-par 72 to lead the Rhode Island contingent in the opening round of the Palmas Del Mar Collegiate Sunday.

The Rams delivered a solid opening round, as Tong, Aidan O'Donovan, Tony Liu and Tyler Bruneau combined to five the Rams a plus-four on the day. That put URI in a tie for seventh place in the power-packed 14-team field.

Wake Forest - the 25th-ranked team in the country according to Scoreboard's rankings - leads the field with a 6-under 282. That put the Demon Deacons two strokes ahead of Southern Illinois.

The next six teams in the tournament finished the opening day separated by just three strokes. Virginia Tech (289), TCU (290), host UNC Greensboro (290), Boston College (291), Rhode Island (292) and Kennesaw State (292) make up the teams in the top half of the standings.

"I am sure some would list all the obstacles such as not playing outside before we got here, the drastic change in temperature, and playing on grass were not used to, but I will simply say we largely played Rhody golf but with a little rust," URI head coach Gregg Burke said. "The goal was for each of our guys to shoot even par. While we didn't get that l, my guess is that virtually everyone will play a little bit better each day.

"The course is already saturated, so there were balls hit in the rough that plugged and it was back to the tee hitting three. With the rain expected, we really need to keep the ball in the fairway just to find it sometimes."

Tong had a strong front nine, where he was 1-under with a birdie on the seventh hole and eight pars. O'Donovan and Liu were both 1-over on the day while sinking three birdies. Bruneau had an eight-hole stretch from holes five through 12 in which he was 1-under, helping him finish 2-over par. The Rams were very strong on the 10th hole, as all five Rhody golfers carded a birdie on the hole.

"Tonight should be a nice night for the guys," Burke said. "We hit for 90 minutes and then got back to the hotel for 90 minutes of study hall before the Super Bowl."

Rhode Island will be grouped with TCU, Boston College and Kennesaw State during Monday's second round.

Team Standings (Through Round 1)
1. Wake Forest - 282
2. Southern Illinois - 284
3. Virginia Tech - 289
t-4. TCU - 290
t-4. UNC Greensboro - 290
6. Boston College - 291
t-7. Rhode Island - 292
t-7. Kennesaw State - 292
9. Michigan - 297
10. Rutgers - 298
11. Wofford - 300
12. Austin Peay - 303
13. Delaware - 305
14. Eastern Kentucky - 306