CHOUDRANT, La. – ULM senior Andoni Etchenique is tied for third place after shooting 3-under-par 69 in the first round of the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate at Squire Creek Country Club Sunday.
The Warhawks are tied for sixth as a team after shooting an even-par 288. Texas State leads the field with a 6-under-par 282.
"Too many mistakes today by the team," ULM Director of Golf Tim Baldwin said. "We had our opportunities but didn't capitalize. Andoni was pretty solid all day."
Etchenique is two shots off the lead of UAB's Nick Robillard, who shot a 5-under-par 67.
Etchenique opened his round with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 first and par-5 second holes. He then connected on six-straight pars before picking up his third birdie on the front nine on the par-4 ninth to sit at 3-under at the turn. On the back nine, he briefly dropped to 4-under-par after a birdie on the par-5 11th. Etchenique closed his round with birdies on the par-4 14th and 18th holes to return to 3-under par. In all, he had six birdies and 10 pars on the day.
Senior Guillaume Fanonnel is tied for 17th after he shot an even-par 72. He tallied six birdies in his round. Fanonnel birdied all four par-5 holes: the second, ninth, 11th and 17th. He added birdies on the par-4 sixth and 13th. He also picked up six pars in the round.
Sophomore Otto Van Buynder started slow but closed the day strong over the final 10 holes. Van Buynder had four birdies over the final 10 holes to finish at 1-over-par 73 and a tie for 22nd place. He picked up birdies in three out of four holes, starting with one on the par-5 ninth, adding another on the par-5 11th and one more on the par-3 12th. He sunk his final birdie on the par-5 17th. Van Buynder added nine pars to his total.
Sophomore Keegan McLachlan added the final number to the team score for round one with a 2-over-par 74 to tie for 28th. McLachlan knocked down three birdies, with two on par-5 holes in the ninth and 17th. He added his other birdie on the par-4 sixth. McLachlan drained 12 pars on the round, with seven coming on the back nine.
Freshman Melan Dhaubedal made his ULM debut with a 3-over-par 75. He birdied the par-5 second and par-4 14th and shot 11 pars.
Sophomore Michael Gilbert shot a first-round 77. Gilbert birdied the par-3 third, par-5 ninth and par-4 10th. He tallied seven pars on his round.
"We need a good round tomorrow to get back on top," Baldwin said.
The Warhawks are back on the course for round two on Monday. The tournament wraps up Tuesday morning. A link to live scoring is available on the men's golf schedule page at ULMWarhawks.com.
