PALM DESERT, Calif. — All five Sacramento State golfers shot under par as the Hornets finished the first round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at 9-under par on Monday at Classic Club. The team will head into the second round in second place, three strokes behind No. 46 Colorado.
 
Max Thomas led the way for the Hornets with a 4-under par round of 68 which places him fifth. The sophomore started with three pars and then eagled the 568-yard, par-5 fourth hole to get to 2-under. His only bogey on the front nine came on the par-4 fifth and was equalized by a birdie on the par-4 seventh. After five consecutive pars, Thomas birdied Nos. 13 and 14 to move to 4-under par. He ended his round with a bogey on No. 15 and a birdie on the par-3 17^th.
 
Jai Bahl and Mason Benbrook each shot 2-under par and are tied for 14^th. Both had steady rounds with three birdies and just one bogey. Bahl played the front nine at 2-under with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4. He was even on the back nine after a birdie on No. 14 and a bogey on No. 18. Benbrook birdied No. 7 and bogeyed No. 8 to stand even at the midway point of his round. He started the back nine with five pars and then added birdies on Nos. 15 and 18.
 
Gabriel Smith and Zach Matzke completed the scores for the team with a 1-under par round of 71 to tie for 29^th. Smith was 2-over through his first four holes but worked his way back to even with birdies on the par-3 sixth and par-4 eighth. He started the back nine with a double bogey but answered immediately with birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 13 before ending the day with five-straight pars.
 
Matzke was the lone Hornet to begin off the second hole and stood at 2-under with birdies on his first two holes. A double bogey on No. 7 returned him to even until he birdied the par-4 10^th. From there, he played his final nine holes even with nine pars.
 
The individual lead is shared by Wyoming's Brody Knowlton, UC Santa Barbara's Jack Watters, Colorado's Parker Paxton and Omaha's Spencer Clatt who are at 5-under.
 
WYOMING DESERT INTERCOLLEGIATE
Palm Desert, Calif. | Classic Club
Par 72 | 7,305 Yards
 
Team Standings
1. Colorado 276
2. Sacramento State 279
3. Maryland 280
4. Wyoming 281
5. Oral Roberts 283
T6. East Texas A&M 285
T6. Drake 285
T6. Omaha 285
T9. California Baptist 286
T9. Utah Tech 286
T9. SeattleU 286
12. Cal Poly 287
13. UC Irvine 289
14. CSUN 290
15. UC Santa Barbara 291
T16. Eastern Washington 294
T16. Valparaiso 294
T18. UC Riverside 295
T18. Hawaii 295
20. Cal State Fullerton 299
21. Southern Utah 300
T22. College of the Desert 306
T22. Northern Iowa 306
 
Individual Top Five
T1. Jack Watters, UCSB, 67
T1. Brody Knowlton, WYO, 67
T1. Spencer Clatt, OMA, 67
T1. Parker Paxton, COLO, 67
T5. Max Thomas, SAC, 68
T5. Davis Seybert, ETAM, 68
 
Sacramento State Scores
T5. Max Thomas 68
T14. Mason Benbrook 70
T14. Jai Bahl 70
T29. Zachary Matzke 71
T29. Gabriel Smith 71