PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After one round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship Regional, all participants from the American Athletic Conference are in position to advance to the NCAA Championship the week following.

At the Kissimmee Regional, host UCF is tied for the team lead, opening a rain-soaked round with a team score of 12-under par (276) on the Reunion Course, with No. 20 USF sitting in fourth after a round of 282.

Among individuals, SMU’s Mac Meissner is tied for fourth at the Norman Regional, leading all selected individuals after a 2-under par 70. Houston’s Michael Perras opened with a 70 at the Bryan Regional, placing him into a tie for seventh after the first round.

Leading the way for UCF were Bobby Bai and Juuso Kahlos, who are each tied for first individually after shooting 67 (-5) after the first 18 holes.

After a 70-minute rain delay, the Knights teed off on the tenth hole and immediately climbed up the leaderboard. Bai birdied his first three holes to ignite UCF and eagled the 14^th to move the Knights to the top of the field, where they would remain the majority of the afternoon.

UCF made its move on the back nine of the Watson Course, shooting 11-under as a team, with Bai pacing the Knights and the field at five under par. On the front nine, Kahlos birdied four holes to creep into the leader's spot with Bai.

Kahlos and Bai each ended the day with six birdies, while Manuel Elvira added two for the Knights. Elvira shot a solid 71(-1) on day one, helping keep UCF in pole position. Kyler Tate ended the day with a birdie to move the Knights into first place with a clutch putt on the final hole. Tate recorded four birdies for UCF and finished one under par.

The Knights sit ahead of seven ranked schools after the first day including No.29 Kent State, No. 20 USF, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 17 UNC, No. 32 Arizona, No. 41 Purdue, and No. 44 Colorado State.

Leading the Bulls at the start of the program's sixth straight NCAA Regional appearance was senior Claudio Correa, who shot a 3-under 69. The American's player of the year is tied for ninth place in the 75-player field and just two shots off the lead. Correa went 3-under on the front nine in the afternoon after sinking an eagle putt from about 50 feet out on the par-5, 581-yard eighth hole.

Just a shot behind Correa is Cristian DiMarco, who carded a 2-under 70. The senior from Longwood, Fla., is tied for 16th place after posting his fifth consecutive round of par or better.

Jimmy Jones also produced for the Bulls with a 1-under 71 that has the senior from Tampa in a tie for 21st place. Sophomore Kyle Flexsenhar led the Bulls with a 3-under performance in the morning on the back nine and finished the day with an even-par 72.

In Norman, Okla., Meissner is tied for fourth overall following an unblemished day, tallying two birdies and 16 pars. After opening the day with six straight pars, the freshman tallied his first birdie of the day on the seventh hole, a 435-yard par 4. The SMU freshman made the turn and opened the back nine with five straight pars, before Meissner recorded his second birdie of the round on the 13^th, a distant 594-yard par 5. The newcomer closed out the untarnished day with five more pars.

A state to the south, Houston’s Michael Perras used a steady performance to shoot a 70 and stand in a tie for seventh on Monday.
Starting his day off No. 1 on the 7,121-yard, par-72 layout at Traditions Club, Perras, who stands at No. 45 in the latest Golfstat individual national rankings, drained a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 second hole and followed that with 11 straight pars.

The All-American Athletic Conference performer then drained back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14-15, moving has high as fourth in the individual standings. Although he gave a stroke back with his lone bogey of the day on No. 16, Perras rallied with consecutive pars to close the round.

The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each of the six 54-hole regional tournaments advance to the NCAA Championship rounds.