Sooners Open NCAAs with Solid Play

	Team	1	2	3	Total
T1.	Arkansas	282	-	-	282
T1.	TCU	282	-	-	282
T3.	San Diego State	283	-	-	283
T3.	USC	283	-	-	283
T3.	Vanderbilt	283	-	-	283

	OU Players	1	2	3	Total
T33.	M. McGreevy	71	-	-	71
T33.	B. Dalke	71	-	-	71
T72.	L. Kwon	73	-	-	73
T103.	G. Hirschman	75	-	-	75
T145.	B. Hale	78	-	-	78

NORMAN – After the first 18 holes of the NCAA Championships, the No. 18 seed Oklahoma men's golf team sits in a tie for 15th place. The tournament is taking place at the par-70, 7,014-yard Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

The Sooners shot a 290 (+10) on Friday against the 30-team field and are tied with No. 4 seed Illinois, No. 7 Arizona State, No. 15 South Florida and No. 17 Alabama. The top 15 teams and top nine individuals not on those teams after 54 holes of stroke play will move on to compete in one final round of stroke play Monday. Following Monday's round, the top eight squads will advance to match play competition.

“The golf course is playing just like it should, and we had some opportunities today but just couldn't take advantage of them,” OU head coach Ryan Hybl said. “Our guys are feeling good, so it's just a matter of executing a little better making some putts.”

The Sooners are making their sixth consecutive appearance in the tournament and join just Georgia, Illinois, Texas and USC as the only programs to reach the national tournament for six straight years.

No. 21 seed Arkansas and No. 29 TCU lead the championships at 282 (+2). No. 3 USC, No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 22 San Diego State are in a three-way tie for third at 283 (+3).

Junior Max McGreevy and freshman Brad Dalke lead OU and hold a share of 33rd place. Both Sooners pocketed three birdies in the first round en route to a 71 (+1).

Senior Luke Kwon is in a tie for 72nd place with a 73 (+3). Two strokes behind Kwon is sophomore Grant Hirschman, who has a share of 103rd place.

Freshman Blaine Hale struggled Friday, carding a 78 (+8). He holds a tie for 145th place.

The second round of the NCAA Championships is scheduled for Saturday, and the Sooners will begin teeing off at 2:20 p.m. CT alongside Alabama and No. 16 Florida. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com.