STANFORD, Calif. – Three players bettered par to help Stanford start strong on Monday in the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional at Stanford Golf Course.
Senior Isaiah Salinda fired a 4-under-par 66, junior David Snyder shot 67 and senior Brandon Wu added a 68 to lift the Cardinal into first place with two rounds remaining. Junior Henry Shimp and freshman Daulet Tuleubayev posted 73's as Stanford combined for a 6-under 274.
North Carolina-Greensboro is second at 275 and Georgia Southern is third at 278.
Thirteen teams and 10 individuals are competing. The top five teams and leading individual advance to the NCAA Championships, May 24-29 at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Nice start for Cardinal on Day 1 of the NCAA Stanford Regional.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/MUxHVLuxrG
— Stanford Men's Golf (@StanfordMGolf) May 13, 2019
The Cardinal entered this week having won its last three events.
"We got off to a nice start," said Conrad Ray, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "When the breeze came up and with some difficult hole locations on the back nine, we hung tough. We will need to clean up some big numbers in the coming days but overall a very good start."
Ranked No. 12 in the country and the No. 2 seed this week, the Cardinal played with top-seed Arizona State and No. 3 seed LSU. Three Stanford players birdied the par-5 first hole to get things rolling.
Wu followed a birdie at the par-4 sixth with an eagle at the par-5 seventh. He knocked his second shot on the green with a 4-iron and poured in a 22-foot putt. Wu turned in 4-under 31.
Salinda closed the front side by rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt from the front fringe at the par-4 ninth and toured the opening nine in 3-under 32. He also finished strong, flagging his approach at the par-4 18th within four feet of the hole and buried the birdie putt.
Junior @davidsnydergolf carded a team-high five birdies on Monday.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/wlGhvlu2kK
— Stanford Men's Golf (@StanfordMGolf) May 14, 2019
Snyder forged a team-high five birdies, including a key one at nine after pulling his drive into the left trees. He matched Salinda by playing the back nine in 1-under 34.
Jake Vincent of Southern Utah, competing as an individual, blazed a 64 to earn the first-round lead. He carded nine birdies.
Salinda is tied for second with Sarut Vongchaisit of Ole Miss and Dougie Ergood of North Carolina.
Stanford begins second-round play Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. on the first tree with North Carolina-Greensboro and Georgia Southern. The final round is Wednesday.
Spectators are welcome and admission is free.
For live scoring, visit GoStanford.com.