Boilermakers With Solid Opening Round at Ohio State, Sitting in 2nd Place After 18 HolesBoilermakers With Solid Opening Round at Ohio State, Sitting in 2nd Place After 18 Holes

Boilermakers With Solid Opening Round at Ohio State, Sitting in 2nd Place After 18 Holes

The No. 26-ranked Purdue men's golf team had a strong opening round to finish the initial 18 holes in a tie for second at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at Ohio State University. 

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COLUMBUS, Ohio The No. 26-ranked Purdue men's golf team had a strong opening round to finish the initial 18 holes in a tie for second at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at Ohio State University. 
 
The Boilermakers totaled a 5-over par score of 289 to finish the first round two shots behind leader Kent State (+3; 287). Purdue is tied with South Dakota State, which teed off in the morning wave, in second place and two shots ahead of Dayton in fourth place (+7; 291). Maryland and Colorado State are tied for seventh at 8-over par 292, while Iowa and Ohio State are ninth at 9-over par 293.
 
Purdue started well in its round, scuffled a bit at the midway point, but regrouped to rally to sit in second place. Purdue's five players were even par as a team through four holes, but played the next eight holes in a combined 11-over par. However, the Boilermakers finished the last six holes (holes 4 through 9) in a combined 3-under par to move up the leaderboard.
 
The course played difficult on a cool, breezy day as just nine players were under par and the scoring average was 74.52 on the par-71 layout.
 
Freshman Sam Easterbrook continues to play well, leading the Boilermakers with a 1-under par 70, good for a seventh-place tie after 18 holes. Easterbrook had three birdies and three bogeys and was never over-par for his round. He has been at even- or under-par in five of his last six rounds and owns 12 rounds of even-par or better this season.
 
Kent Hsiao also sits in the top-20, at 14th after a 1-over par 73. Hsiao was 2-over par after a double-bogey on No. 18 (his ninth hole), but played the front nine in 1-under par to move into the top 15.
 
Peyton Snoeberger is tied for 24th after a 2-over par 73. Snoeberger was 3-over par after six holes, but played his final 12 holes in 1-under par.
 
Nels Surtani is tied for 32nd at 3-over par 74, while Nick Dentino is tied for 57th at 5-over par 76. Playing as an individual, Justin Sun is tied for 89th at 7-over par 78.
 
The Boilermakers are playing this weekend without All-American Herman Sekne, who earned a sponsor's exemption into the PGA Tour's Corales Puntacana Championship. Sekne missed the cut after shooting a 4-over par 148 (75-73). Sekne was 4-over par through six holes on Thursday, but played his final 30 holes in even-par.
 
The Boilermakers will tee off round two at 8:15 a.m. ET, off hole No. 1 at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course.