ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hunter Bott is in the top 20 individuals and the UTSA men’s golf team has a share of 13th after the opening day of the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at UNM Championship Course (par 72/7,546 yards).
Bott is tied for 19th at 2-under par and the Roadrunners are deadlocked with San Diego at 7-over through 36 of 54 scheduled holes. The senior all-conference performer opened the day with a 1-over 73 that featured five birdies. Starting on No. 17, he bounced back from a double bogey on the first with birdies on Nos. 2 and 4 to get back to even. He also recorded birdies on the 606-yard, par-5 ninth, the 402-yard, par-4 12th and 575-yard, par-5 14th holes.
The Montgomery, Texas, native then posted a 3-under 69 in the afternoon on the strength of four birdies and only one bogey. He moved to 2-under for the round with birdies on the Nos. 1 and 3 and then got to 4-under with back-to-back circled numbers on the ninth and 10th holes before settling for a bogey on the 15th to bump him back to 3-under.
David Harrison is tied for 42nd at 1-over 145. The senior from Byron Nelson High School carded a 1-over 73 in the morning round before turning in a 72 behind four birdies, including three on a four-hole stretch in round two.
Jack Wehman paced the Roadrunners in the first round with an even-par 72 and he followed that with a 75 that was highlighted by three birdies and an eagle on No. 14. The junior from Austin is part of a tie for 56th at 3-over 147.
Brock Blais also recorded an eagle with a two on the 402-yard, par-4 12th hole en route to posting a 1-over 73 in his afternoon round. That scorecard followed a 76 for the opening 18 holes and the freshman from Florida finds himself with a share of 71st at 5-over 149.
Walker Franklin rounds out the UTSA lineup in 103rd (79-81—160).
The Roadrunners are one shot ahead of New Mexico State and three in front of UTEP and Santa Clara, while trailing Wyoming by only two strokes and 10th-place USC by seven.
Texas Tech leads the 20-team field at 18-under 558, followed by New Mexico (-16), San Francisco (-14), San Diego State (-13) and UNLV (-9) in the top five.
Texas Tech’s Tyran Sanders sits atop the individual leaderboard at 9-under 135 (67-68).
The final round is scheduled for Tuesday.
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