A sizzling back nine, set off by a couple of eagles from freshman Julian Perico, got the No. 31 Arkansas men’s golf team off to a hot start as the Razorbacks went off from the No. 10 tee at the NCAA Austin Regional.
Arkansas had a team score of 8 under par early in the round before settling for a 2 under and fourth place after Monday’s opening round at the University of Texas Golf Club.
Host and No. 6 Texas shared the first-round lead with No. 18 Pepperdine at 6 under, followed by No. 30 TCU at 4 under on the par 71 course.
The top five teams from each of six regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships starting May 24 at The Blessings in Fayetteville.
Perico eagled the par 5 11th hole and the par 5 14th hole and put up birdies on Nos. 12 and 16 to shoot out to 6 under and the early lead. He made the turn with a 5-under 31 and finished at 4 under 67. Perico is tied for second place with Pepperdine’s Joshua McCarthy and TCU’s David Ravetto, one shot behind Texas’ Pierceson Coody.
Arkansas junior Tyson Reeder made a birdie on No. 11 and parred every other hole to finish with a 70 to tie for ninth place.
Junior William Buhl is tied for 13th at even par 71 after making three birdies and three bogeys.
Juniors Luis Garza and Mason Overstreet each carded 3 over 74s in the opening round. Garza birdied No. 1 and had four bogeys, while Overstreet birdied Nos. 1 and 17 and had five bogeys.
Clemson stood in fifth place at even par 284, while Southern California (+6), Marquette (+6), San Jose State (+7), Iowa (+11) and Missouri-Kansas City (+11) rounded out the top 10.
The Razorbacks will tee off on No. 10 Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. with Clemson and USC for round two.
TEAM SCORES
1 Pepperdine 278 -6
2 Texas 278 -6
3 TCU 280 -4
4 Arkansas 282 -2
5 Clemson 283 -1
6 Southern California 290 +6
Marquette 290 +6
8 San Jose State 291 +7
9 Missouri-Kansas City 295 +11
Iowa 295 +11
11 Sam Houston State 303 +19
12 St. Mary’s 307 +23
13 Army 309 +25
Prairie View 309 +25