University of Cincinnati

Golf

No. 21 USF Leads; Cincinnati's Baxter Fires Lone Under-Par Round at Day 1 of American Golf Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – No. 21 USF began its title defense with remarkable consistency, using four scores of 71 to open a five-shot lead after the first round of the American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship, presented by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater.
 
Playing on the challenging par 71, 7,125-yard layout on the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club, Cincinnati’s Davis Baxter was the lone player to break par, going out in the second group of the day and shooting a 1-under 70 to take the individual lead.
 
Baxter leads a group of nine players who fired even-par rounds of 71. Four of those belong to the USF quartet of Jimmy Jones, Priyanshu Singh, Cristian DiMarco and Claudio Correa, who played the Copperhead Course’s “Snake Pit” of closing holes at even par to help the Bulls build their five-shot advantage.
 
Behind the Bulls are a cluster of teams, with second through sixth separated by just three shots.
 
Led by Kyler Tate’s 71, UCF sits in second place; Bobby Bai sits just two shots out of the lead after an opening 72 along with teammate Manuel Elvira. The final grouping off of hole No. 1 on Monday will feature a “War On I-4” matchup between the Knights and Bulls.
 
Jackson Markham and Mac Meissner of SMU each fired 71’s, helping the Mustangs to a team score of 6-over par, one shot behind UCF. Meissner’s eventful round included an eagle and five birdies, including a birdie at the last to come in at even.
 
Cincinnati sits in fourth place, paced by Baxter and Austin Squires, who trails his teammate by two shots. Baxter drained four birdies on the back nine, coming home in 33 to pace the field.
 
One shot in back of Cincinnati are ECU and Wichita State, each of whom posted team scores of 292, 8-over par.
 
The Pirates posted five scored between 72-75 as all five ECU players sit inside the top 25. Tim Conover’s 72 paced ECU; only a double-bogey on the par-5 14th kept Conover from joining Baxter atop the leaderboard.
 
For Wichita State, Jacob Bishop is among the nonet one shot behind Baxter on the leaderboard, going out in 3-under par after teeing off of No. 10. Teammates Gage Ihrig (73), Conrad Walcher (74) and Adrien Michellod (74) helped the Shockers into the tie with the Pirates.
 
Relative to its initial seeding, no teams bettered its standing more than Wichita State and Temple in the first round. Gary McCabe (73) and Dawson Anders (73) each sit at 2-over par, helping the Owls into seventh place with a team score of 12-over par.
 
Houston (+17), UConn (+18) and Memphis (+18) round out the field. Memphis’ Borja Martin is among the group trailing Baxter by one shot after an even-par 70.
 
The championship can be followed via Golfstat, while the final round of the championship will also feature coverage on the American Digital Network beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.
 
Teams sitting 1-6 will tee off from hole No. 1 beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET from the first tee. Teams seeded 7-10 will tee off from No. 10 beginning at 7:34 a.m. ET on Monday.