DuPONT, Wash. (May 6, 2021) – The No. 17 Colorado State University Pueblo men's golf team closed day one of the NCAA Division II West/South Central Region Championships in a tie for eighth place at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington.
 
The ThunderWolves shot a five-over 293 to tie for eighth and sit nine shots out of first. The Pack had the last tee time of the day, which proved to be more difficult due to the weather conditions. 
 
"Today was a means of survival, as the lower seeded teams definitely got the tough draw on tee times," said Pack Director of Golf Josh Koschke. "It was cold, windy, rainy and a tough day to score in the afternoon. The guys did a great job keeping us in the mix, we go out earlier tomorrow and hope to take advantage of the conditions if they present themselves. Andrew and Clay played especially well and kept us in contention. Good teams stay in the fight in tough conditions and that's exactly what happened today. I'm really happy about the attitudes, demeanor and focus the men showed. Tomorrow should provide some opportunities to create some space between the teams on the leaderboard."
 
Junior Andrew Ni (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK) led the team and is tied for fourth after carding a two-under 70 on day one. He had 16 pars and two birdies on the day.
 
Junior Clay Kucera (Jr., Chaska, Minn.) had an up and down round, but finished at even par with a 72 to rank tied for 16th. After starting with a double bogey, Kucera totaled four birdies on the front nine and shot an even 36. On the back nine he settled in and had one birdie and one bogey with seven pars. 
 
Jamie Roberts (R-Fr., Kinross, Scotland, UK) was next, as he shot a 74 to finish two-over. He had three birdies on the day and is ranked tied for 37th. 
 
To round out the team scoring, Nathan McCann (Jr., Lurgan, Armagh, Ireland) carded a five-over 77 and sits tied for 64th after the opening round. 
 
Matt Millar (Fr., Devon, England, UK) shot 79 (+7) and is in a tie for 80th. 
 
Both McCann and Millar didn't have anything higher than a bogey, but could only find one birdie each on the day. 
 
The round Friday begins at 10:20 a.m. MT for the ThunderWolves. 
 
-- PACK --