They shot an 18-over-par 298 in the opening round at the San Diego regional and are 12th out of 14 teams.
Star player Mikkel Mathiesen is tied for 10th after an even-par 70 at The Farms Golf Club, and freshman Timmy Hollenbeck carded a 73. But Horizon League champ Andrew Flynn shot 77, Adam Horn 78 and Shane Ochs 85 (four scores count each day).
The Raiders are ahead of only Seton Hall (302) and Winthrop (305).
They’re 13 strokes behind the two teams tied for fifth, West Virginia and San Diego.
“We had some guys who didn’t hit it that bad, they just didn’t score. Maybe it was nerves or that they hadn’t played in a regional before,” coach Conner Lash said.
“But we can make up ground. We’ve just got to go out and get four (good) scores under our belt.”
Mathiesen, playing as an individual in an NCAA regional last year, almost reached the nationals. The HL Golfer of the Year finished one shot out of the playoff for the lone qualifying spot for players not on the top-five teams.
He was 2-over on his first nine (the Raiders started on the back side) but 2-under on his second nine despite a finishing bogey.
The best round was a 4-under 66 by California’s Sampson Zheng.
“He played in the practice round (Sunday) and hit it really, really well and was putting well. I think he’s in a good spot,” Lash said of Mathiesen.
“He’s been here before. He knows he doesn’t have to play great. I think today was just an average round for him. He can definitely play better.”
North Florida is first after shooting a 3-under 277, followed by Oklahoma State (278), Cal (280) and Oklahoma (284).
The Raiders’ best regional finish was a tie for ninth in 2022.
The tourney concludes Wednesday.
“It’s a shame we didn’t play better. But now we can go play free and see what we can do,” Lash said.
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