AKUMAL, MEXICO – UT Tyler men's golf is tied for the lead after an opening round 299 as a team at the DII Shootout at PGA Riviera Maya.
 
The Patriots sit level with West Texas A&M and are five shots clear of Cal State East Bay, Colorado School of Mines, CSU Pueblo, and UT Permian Basin.
 
Freshman Preston Chabaud continued his big start to his collegiate career from last week as he shot a one over 73. He made 15 pars, two bogeys, and one birdie in a level-headed performance to sit third on the leaderboard.  
 
Preston DeSerrano and Connor Carver followed up the effort from Chabaud as they shot matching scores of 75. After a sluggish start for DeSerrano that saw a front nine 40, he battled back with a back nine 35 to sit in a tie for 12^th. Carver saw a much more even-keeled round as he made 13 pars on his way to nine hole scores of 38 and 37.
 
Luke Emerson provided the final counting score on day one, shooting a round of 76 to sit in a tie for 16^th. Emerson made a pair of birdies and added 10 pars.
 
Day one provided a tough test for the field as the 75 golfers played to an average of 78.80. The Patriots led the field in par four scoring at 4.20 and were second on par three's at 3.20. Additionally, the Patriots had the most pars in the field at 61.
 
UT Tyler will be back to work at 8:30 a.m. on Monday for round two as Luke Emerson leads the team off of hole #10. Tomorrow's round will feature tee times every 10 minutes off of hole #1 and #10.