The St. Thomas Aquinas men's golf team finished tied for 13th place after round one of the NCAA Division II men's golf championship.  Senior Thomas Linehan led the Spartans carding a 5-over, 76 on the tough Meadows Course in Grand Rapids.  

Linehan got off to a strong start with birdies on holes 4 and 5, playing 2-under through six.  The senior ran into some trouble on the 7th and 8th holes and finished the front 3-over.  Linehan bounced back late in his round with another set of back to back birdies on 16 and 17 to leave him tied for 35th place after day one.  

Junior Niklas Koerner's birdie on the 4th hole put him 1-under through four.  After a tough stretch on the next three holes, Koerner eagled the 9th hole to finish 1-over on the front.  Koerner was 2-over through 15 holes, however difficulty on 16 and 18 left him 6-over for the day.  Koerner is tied for 48th place heading into round two.  

Kai Rastetter, Kevin Gately and Brendan Hunter carded rounds of 79 on their opening day.  The Spartans finished +27 as a team just one stroke off the top half of the field.  Nova Southeastern had a strong performance finishing on top with a 3-over team score of, 287.   Chico State and Barry also had strong opening rounds finishing in 2nd (291) and 3rd (292) place respectively. 

The Spartans will tee up starting on the back nine Tuesday afternoon for round two.  To follow the Spartans live click here: Leaderboard.

Tuesday's Tee Times:

12:55  Kevin Gately

1:05    Brendan Hunter

1:15    Niklas Koerner

1:25    Thomas Linehan

1:35    Kai Rastetter

Tee Shot Hole 13