STOCKTON, Calif. — Six Sacramento State men's golfers finished the first round of the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational below par on Thursday at Stockton Country Club. As a team, the Hornets are tied for fourth after shooting 277 to end at 7-under par.

The low score of the round belonged to Keaton Sutherland and Gabriel Smith who both shot 65 and are tied for eighth place. Sutherland posted a career best by ended 3-under par. He was never above par during the day and reached 4-under following birdies on the par-4 first and par-5 second. Bogeys on Nos. 4 and 6 moved him to 2-under but he followed with a birdie on the par-4 seventh and two pars to close his day.

Smith played the back nine of the course at 1-under with the help of birdies on Nos. 16 and 18. He parred his first three holes on the front side of the course before a birdie on No. 4, a bogey on No. 5 and a birdie on No. 6. After two more pars, he wrapped up his day with a birdie on the par-4 ninth.

Among the players in the lineup, Riley Bell, Zach Mate and Casey Leebrick each shot 69 and are tied for 16th place. Bell, cruised through his first nine holes with birdies on Nos. 12-14 to accompany six pars. His score rose to 1-under with bogeys on Nos. 3 and 7 before a birdie on the par-3 eighth and a par ended his day.

Mate had three birdies and two bogeys on his first nine holes and fluctuated between 1-over and 2-under on the back nine. He added birdies on the par-4 first and sixth holes to get to 3-under in his round but closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth.

Leebrick was steady through the first half of the round, carding a birdie on the par-5 14th to go along with eight pars. He dropped to 2-under with a birdie on the par-5 second but moved back to even with bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4. He immediately returned to red numbers with birdies on the par-4 fifth and sixth and ended with three pars.

Coleman Dupre was one stroke back of the trio and is tied for 27th place. Dupre had the best start on the team, playing the back nine at 4-under with five birdies and just one bogey. The freshman was aided by a stretch where he birdied four of five holes. A birdie on No. 1 took him to 5-under but he later bogeyed four of five holes to end at 1-under.

Jeffrey Perry shot 79 to round out the lineup. Perry had one birdie, four bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey during the round.

Grand Canyon leads the field at 11-under and holds a one-stroke lead over UC San Diego in the team standings. Fresno State is third at 9-under while Sacramento State, San Jose State and Washington State are tied for fourth.

The individual lead is shared by UC San Diego's Davis McDowell and UC Irvine's Jin Nakao who each shot 65. Fifteen golfers are within three strokes of the leaders heading into the second round.

Sacramento State will be paired with Washington State and San Jose State in the second round on Friday. The teams will tee off the first hole starting at 8:30 a.m.
 

VISIT STOCKTON PACIFIC INVITE
Stockton, Calif. | Stockton CC
Par 71 | 6,566 Yards

Team Standings
1. Grand Canyon 273
2. UC San Diego 274
3. Fresno State 275
T4. Sacramento State 277
T4. San Jose State 277
T4. Washington State 277
T7. Cal State Fullerton 278
T7. UC Irvine 278
9. George Washington 281
T10. UC Riverside 283
T10. Idaho 283
12. CSUN 284
13. Utah Tech 285
14. Pacific 287
15. Temple 293
16. UC Santa Barbara 297

Individual Top Five
T1. Davis McDowell, UCSD, 65
T1. Jin Nakao, UCI, 65
T3. Matthew Braley, GCU, 66
T3. Matthew Manganello, FS, 66
T3. Ethan Chen, UCSD, 66
T3. Matthew Babachano, GW, 66

Sacramento State Scores
T8. Keaton Sutherland 68*
T8. Gabriel Smith 68*
T16. Casey Leebrick 69
T16. Riley Bell 69
T16. Zach Mate 69
T27. Coleman Dupre 70
92. Jeffrey Perry 79
* Competing as an individual