CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – The St. Bonaventure golf team completed the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Championship from Heron Bay Golf Club in 11th place on Friday with a team score of 303.
George Washington leads the 11-team field as the Colonials fired a first-round 284 total (-4). While Bonaventure is in 11th place, it is just six shots from being in sole possession of 8th place as Temple (301), La Salle (299) and Saint Joseph's (298) are just ahead of the Bonnies.
Junior Brian McKenna (pictured, left) led the way for the Bonnies with a 1-over 73 on the 7,268-yard course, good for a top-20 showing overall. The Rochester, N.Y. product is tied for 18th as he carded four birdies on the day and played the par-4 holes collectively at 1-under par – tied for eighth among the 55 competitors.
Sophomore Scott Brady (pictured, right) wasn't too far behind McKenna as the Olean native finished with a 3-over 75 in his first A-10 Championship appearance. Brady played the par-3s at 2-under – good for second-best among all golfers.
Playing in his final collegiate tournament barring the Bonnies advancing to the NCAA Tournament, senior Kevin Lewis opened his championship with a 4-over 76 and in a tie for 38th overall. Junior Greg Horvath and sophomore Chris Mackey each shot rounds of 79 to wrap up the Bona scoring.
Four holes on the Heron Bay course played under par, including two of the lengthy par-5s. All four of the par-5 holes measure 530 yards or more, with three of the four stretching more than 565 yards.
The finishing stretch on the course proved to be the most difficult on the day as three of the closing four holes (15, 17 and 18) played as the three hardest holes statistically, with 18 playing nearly a third of a shot more challenging than the second-hardest hole (+0.64 to +0.35).
The Bonnies will open championship play for round two of the three-round tournament on Saturday morning beginning with Mackey at 7:30. Horvath follows at 7:39, Lewis tees off at 7:48, Brady goes off at 7:57 and McKenna rounds out the quintet at 8:06.
Live scoring is provided via this link, and fans can follow all the action on the course through Twitter @BonniesGolf.
