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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – Austin Shoemaker decided to give himself a pep talk following his opening tee shot.
After slicing his first swing of the day into the water at the par-4 10th hole at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley course, he quickly regrouped and restarted his round with a vengeance.
The Lincoln University of Missouri senior rebounded by registering three consecutive birdies on holes 11-13 en route to a first-round score of 4-under-par 68 at the 2024 PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship presented by Chase, Kohler and ADT.
“I just told myself ‘okay, we’re going to work back from here’ and that thought kind of grounded me and just set the tone for the whole round,” said Shoemaker.
Shoemaker, the Men’s Division II medalist leader, closed his front nine with additional birdies at the par-5 16th and par-4 18th holes to make the turn at 4-under. After a pair of bogeys on the 2nd and 4th holes, he finished strong with birdies on the par-4 7th and par-5 8th to register the low round of the day.
“I made a lot of putts,” said Shoemaker. “11 came and I made a 25 footer for birdie and made two more birdies after that. It kind of steamrolled from there.”
In addition to Shoemaker’s 68, junior Henry Mwanza (2-over-par 74), junior Remon Rabie (4-over-par 76) and freshman Nicolas Tovar Cardona (11-over-par 83) combined for an opening-round score of 13-over-par 301 to give Lincoln University of Missouri a five-stroke lead in the Men’s Division II competition.
Chaminade University of Honolulu (18-over-par 306) is five strokes back in second while Bluefield State University (22-over-par 310) and 2023 Men’s DII champion Kentucky State University (23-over-par 311) are nine and 10 shots back respectively.
Florida A&M University (13-over-par 301) sits atop the Men’s Division I leaderboard following its first round at the Stadium Course. The Rattlers hold a 12-shot lead over second place Prairie View A&M University (25-over-par 313).
“Overall, I’m excited that we’re in the tournament,” said Florida A&M University Head Coach Mike Rice. “We have a chance to win in a couple days and that’s all we want. At the end, we want a chance to hold the trophy.”
FAMU Graduate student Patrick Mwendapole shot a solid even-par 72 on Monday, highlighted by 10 consecutive pars on holes 9-18 to finish his round.
“I feel like I had a lot of opportunities on the front nine to get it going,” said Mwendapole. “I missed a few short putts out there. On the back nine it was just about the grind. I got through 10 and from there it was about putting it in the right places and seeing if I could make pars.”
Western New Mexico University (15-over-par 303) jumped out to a two-stroke lead in the Women’s Team Division at Dye’s Valley. Graduate student Chelsea Medina led the way for WNMU with a 2-over-par 74.
Howard University (17-over-par 305) is two back while three-time defending champion Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi is five back at 20-over-par 308.
St. Johns own Tori Mouton, a sophomore at North Carolina A&T University, shot even-par 72 on Dye’s Valley to sit in a three-way tie for first in the Women’s Team Medalist race. Trinity Ahing (North Carolina Central University) and Kendall Jackson (Howard University) also posted even-par 72.
Kaiyuree Moodley (University of North Carolina Charlotte) recorded a steady even-par 72 on the Stadium course to grab a one-shot advantage in the Women’s Individual. She started the day with six straight pars on holes 1-6 before back-to-back birdies on the par-4 7th and par-3 8th holes.
“I was really happy with how I played, especially staying so consistent,” said Moodley. “That was what helped me today, just making sure that I hit every fairway and every green and two putt. If the birdies go in, they go in. I was proud of how patient I was today, even with the wind picking up towards the end.”
Sahasawat Ariyachatvakin (University of Delaware) registered an even-par 72 at the Stadium Course to take a two-stroke lead over Xing Luo (University of North Alabama) in the men’s individual division.
Tuesday’s second round of the 2024 PWCC will be broadcast live on GOLF Channel from 3-6 pm ET, and live streamed on PGA.com.
For more information on the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship, visit www.PGAWORKSCollegiate.org.
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