Southern Highlands Collegiate: Florida leads by two shots over Illinois after day one

25 Feb 2024
by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for , Southern Highlands Golf Club, Jack Lundin Rankings
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Jack Lundin (Missouri Athletics Photo)

2023 national champions Florida shot 10-under and leads by two shots over the field after round one of the Southern Highlands Collegiate at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev. Defending champions Illinois are in solo second place at 8-under.

The Gators shot a team score of 278 to get to 10-under. Ian Gilligan led the Gators in the first round, who is T2 at 5-under. Gilligan has had a great season thus far. Gilligan won the 2023 Patriot All-American, finished in solo second place in the 2024 Sea Best Invitational, and finished in solo third place at the 2024 Florida Gators Invitational.

San Diego State, Pepperdine, and Texas A&M are all T3 at 6-under, and North Carolina is in solo sixth place at 5-under.

The two participants of the Red River Showdown, Oklahoma and Texas, are T7 at 4-under. New Mexico is in solo ninth place at 2-under, and Auburn and Arizona State round out the top ten and are T10 at 1-under.

In the individual competition, Jack Lundin of Missouri leads the field by one shot. Lundin shot 4-under on his front nine (the back nine of the course since he started on Hole No. 10, but stumbled on Hole No. 4 with a double bogey to fall back to 2-under. However, he made four birdies on the last five holes, including three birdies in a row on Holes No. 7, 8, and 9, to close out his round with a 6-under 66.

Gilligan of Florida, Tyler Goecke of Illinois, and Jose Luis Ballester of Arizona State are T2 at 5-under, and Maxwell Ford of North Carolina and Mahanth Chirravuri of Pepperdine are T5 at 4-under. Ford is one of the highest-ranked players in the field, currently ranked No. 16 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com U.S. Rankings.

38 golfers shoot under par in the opening round at Southern Highlands Golf Club.

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