WCU Men’s Golf Tied for Seventh After First Round at Disney

Redshirt junior transfer Pablo Hernandez carded an opening-round, 1-under par 71 to sit amidst an eight-way tie for 10th-place after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes to lead Western Carolina into a two-way tie for seventh place at the Mickey Mouse Intercollegiate, hosted by Bellarmine at the par-72, 6,870-yard Disney’s Palm Golf Course.

WCU sits tied with Queens University of Charlotte for seventh place with a first-round score of 292.

The second round opens on Monday at 7:30 a.m. Paired with golfers from Bellarmine, Austin Peay, and Queens University of Charlotte, WCU’s scoring five opens on the back nine off the 10th tee beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Hernandez carded three birdies against two bogeys on Sunday, making the turn to the back nine at 1-under par before playing the final nine holes even for the opening-round 71. Senior Magnus Pedersen likewise made the turn for the back at 1-under par with two birdies, but a double-bogey on the par-4 10th relegated him to 1-over and he finished the round at 1-over par 73 in a tie for 26th.

Redshirt freshman Josh Lendach overcame a triple-bogey on his second hole of the day, playing his final 16 holes at 1-under par with four total birdies to match Pedersen at 73, tied for 26th.

Rounding out WCU’s scoring five were graduate transfer Adam Hooker and fifth-year senior Louis Theys tied for 45th overall with 3-over-par rounds of 75. Hooker had a birdie against four bogeys while Theys birdied twice to counter five bogeys including three straight to close his opening 18 holes.

Southern Conference foe Wofford leads the 16-team field by three strokes over Florida A&M, 285-to-288, after Sunday’s opening round. Purdue Fort Wayne and Morehead State are tied for third, five strokes off the pace at 290 with host Bellarmine and Austin Peay tied for fifth another stroke in arrears at 291.

Taylor Gardner of IUPUI leads the field by a stroke after shooting 5-under par 67 on Sunday with Wofford’s Matthew Larkin and Ayush Bodhale of Florida A&M a stroke back at 4-under par, 68.

Results and a recap of Monday’s second round will be posted after play.

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T7 – Western Carolina – 292

T10 – Pablo Hernandez (1) – 71

T26 – Magnus Pedersen (2) – 73

T26 – Josh Lendach (5) – 73

T45 – Adam Hooker (3) – 75

T45 – Louis Theys (4) – 75

T89 – Quinton Metz (ind.) - 83