The Emory men's golf team sent two lineups to Rome, Georgia to compete in the Chick-fil-A Invitational hosted by Berry College. The lineups consisted of several golfers that were seeing their first action of the fall in the 36-hole event. After 18 holes, the B-Lineup finds itself tied for 11^th place after shooting 306 (+18) on Monday. The C-Team did not record an official score with a golfer withdrawing due to illness, leaving the lineup with just three golfers. #2 Methodist's B-Lineup holds the lead after the opening round, shooting a 288 (E). Meanwhile, Berry is right behind after shooting a 289 (+1). The event is being held at Stonebridge Golf Club's Par-72, 6,809-yard course.
 
Freshman Zach Pelzar, competing alongside the B-Lineup, was Emory's top performer after he shot a 74 (+2) on the day. Pelzar got off to a rocky start, recording a double-bogey and a bogey on two of his first four holes to see him quickly falter to three strokes over par. The rookie reigned it in, though, shooting one under for the remainder of his opening round. He finished with three birdies along with 11 pars. He will enter Tuesday tied for 19^th individually and seven strokes off the leader, Dax Anderson of Southern Virginia who shot a 67 (-5).
 
Senior Prayaag Oruganti, who won the Chick-fil-A Invitational in 2022, also competed alongside the B-Team lineup in his first round of 2024. Oruganti had an up-and-down day on the course, tapping in three birdies and as many bogeys. Yet, two double bogeys on his front nine saw his score creep over par. He finished with a 76 (+4) on the day and finds himself tied for 37^th.
 
Sophomore Dustin Miller finished his 18 holes on Monday carding a 77 (+5) to contribute to the B-Lineup's score in his first round of the season. His day wasn't as consistent, tapping in three birdies to go along with seven pars and eight bogeys. While he did record eight bogeys in his round, he was the only Eagle to not have a single hole where he scored worse than bogey. The sophomore enters Tuesday tied for 52^nd.
 
Rounding out the day for the B-Lineup was fifth-year Logan Lowery. Lowery finished his first round of the year with a 79 (+7). The veteran started his day strong, shooting two-under-par after his first seven holes. However, he shot nine over par over his next 12 holes, including a quadruple bogey on the 546-yard Par 5. The few rough holes see him enter Tuesday tied for 82^nd.
 
The C-Lineup, while unable to record an official score with just three eligible golfers, saw some success on the course on Monday. Leading the way was junior Parker Shimp with a 77 (+5) in his opening round. Shimp was relatively consistent in his opening round, but a few holes gave him trouble to hurt his score. He finished with one birdie to go with four bogeys and a double bogey. He finds himself tied for 52^nd.
 
Next up was senior Nicholas Nautiyal, who carded a 79 (+7) to finish his day tied for 82^nd. Nautiyal tapped in a team-high five birdies, but like Lowery, had a few unfortunate holes to hurt his score. He finished with two triple bogeys and a double bogey as well.
 
Rounding out competition for the Eagles was freshman Tim Richter. The rookie finished with an 80 (+8) on Monday and will enter Tuesday tied for 94^th. Richter compiled three birdies to go with six bogeys. Unfortunately, he finished his day with a triple and double bogey on his final two holes to hurt his otherwise impressive score.
 
The Eagles will conclude play at the Chick-fil-A Invitational with the second leg of the event getting started with a shotgun start at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning.