Emory Golf Tied For 5th After First Day Of NCAA D-III Championships

The 16th-ranked Emory University golf team is tied for fifth place after the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships.  The first two rounds of the 72-hole tournament are being played on the Dye and the Ryder Courses at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Standing in first place in the 36-team field is No. 2-ranked Methodist University which finished with a blistering nine-under par 279 while playing the par 72, 6,953-yard Ryder Course.  Defending champ and No. 7-ranked St. John's University (MN) holds down second place at even-par 288 while Skidmore College and Texas at Tyler are deadlocked for third at 291.

The Eagles of Head Coach Mike Phillips played the Ryder Course on Wednesday and are one of three schools to occupy fifth place.  Emory finished the opening day of action with a mark of 292, tying it with the University of LaVerne and LaGrange College. 

Emory has two of its competitors among the top 20 performers in the 185-player field.  Freshman Ryan Dagerman (Dallas, TX) is tied for sixth after turning in two-under 70, tying the school's record for an individual low score in a NCAA Championship.  After going out with one-over par 37 on the front side, Dagerman shot a three-under 33 on the back nine to close out his day.  All totaled, he recorded four birdies and a pair of bogeys.  Junior John Ross (North Barrington, IL) turned in solid effort, finishing his opening round at even-par 72, tying him for 20th position.  Senior Jeremy Evans (Palm Harbor, FL), playing in his final collegiate tournament, is tied for 32nd place after checking in with a one-over par 73.   Evans displayed considerable success on the longer holes with three birdies on four of the course's par-5 holes. Rounding out the Eagles contingent was sophomore Daniel Kmetz (Louisville, KY) with a 77 and senior Patrick Cohn (St. Louis, MO) with an 81.

Tom Cooper of Methodist University and Mitchell Fedorka of LaVerne both fired five-under par 67 to tie for the top spot after the opening 18 holes action.

Following Thursday's round, the field will be pared to 23 teams and the final two days of action will take place on the Dye Course.  Emory will play its second round on the Dye Course.