PALM DESERT, Calif. — Kaelen Dulany birdied eight straight and nine holes overall to grab a share of the individual lead, while UTSA is in fifth place after the first round at the Desert Intercollegiate, which got underway Monday at Classic Club (par 72/7,305 yards).
Dulany’s nine birdies buoyed him to the top of the leaderboard and to the second-best score in program history with a 7-under-par 65. Starting on No. 5, the sophomore transfer bounced back from a double bogey on his opening hole in a big way. He wrote down par on the next six holes before starting his birdie streak with a two on the 162-yard 12th. He then reeled off six more birdies on the back nine of the course, including a four on the 564-yard 18th, en route to a 7-under 29 on that side. Dulany’s stretch concluded with a circled number on the 408-yard, par-4 first before posting pars on Nos. 2-3. For good measure, he closed out his round with his tournament-high ninth birdie — a four on the 568-yard fourth — pushing him to 7-under par for the round.
A native of Keller, Texas, Dulany is tied with Jake Weissenburger of Drake and Zavier Bighaus of Colorado Christian for first in the field of 90 golfers with 36 holes left to play. Today’s 65 trails only a 64 posted by Derek Steinbruck at the 1990 St. Mary’s Invitational and matched by Luke Healy at the 2001 Aztec Invitational in the UTSA record book. It also marks the best score registered by a Roadrunner since Christian Fanfelle and Michael Rome each turned in a 65 at the 2022 Wyoming Cowboy Classic
The Roadrunners are in sole possession of fifth place in the team standings after turning in a season-best 7-under 281, four shots in front of Utah Tech and seven ahead of a three-way tie for seventh between Tarleton, UC Irvine and host Wyoming. UTSA trails Coastal Carolina by one stroke and is six shots off the pace of 13-under par set by No. 37 Charlotte and Colorado Christian in the 15-team field.
David Martinez carded a 1-under 71 and has a share of 30th. The freshman from Houston logged five birdies on the day, including three in a row on the 18th followed by the 408-yard first and 180-yard second holes.
Logan Zurn is one shot behind Martinez in a tie for 36th after posting an even-par 72. The junior out of Grapevine, Texas, registered six birdies overall with four coming on the front side of the course, where he shot a 2-under 34.
Walker Franklin turned in a 1-over 73 that was highlighted by four birdies, including back-to-back on Nos. 11-12 to provide the other counting score for UTSA. The senior from Colorado has a share of 46th.
Brayden Bare is tied for 55th after recording a 74 that included three birdies.
Competing as an individual, Jack Wehman carded a 2-under 70 that put him in a tie for 18th. The Austin native wrote down four birdies against only one bogey on the way to his best round of the season.
Altogether, the Roadrunners recorded 27 birdies on the day, the most by any team. UTSA also played the par threes at 6-under for the round, tops in the tournament.
The second round is scheduled for Tuesday.
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