Sophomore Alvaro Hernandez is tied for third place after round one of the Butler Spring Break Tournament for the Eastern men’s golf team.

Butler is hosting the event at the par 72, 6,765-yard Windsor Parke Golf Club.

Hernandez finished off round one of the tournament with a score of 73, which is three strokes behind the leader. The leader right now is RJ Bartolomucci from High Point with a round total of 70. He is two strokes under par and followed by Kyle Gaines from Detroit, who is one stroke behind with a round total of 71.

Detroit is at the top of the team standings after day one with a combined round total of 298. High Point is one stroke behind Detroit in second place with a score of 299. It is a tight race for the top five teams with one more day still to go. Evansville is in third place and three strokes behind the leader with a score of 301.

Albany State is not far behind in fourth place with a round total of 303, and Butler is not far behind in fifth place with a score of 309. There is a little separation between the top five and the remaining four teams in the tournament after the first day of golf.

Southern Indiana is in sixth place with a score of 318 followed by Eastern at 329, Chicago State with a 339 and rounded out by Kentucky State who has a score of 348. Detroit has four golfers in the top 20 with Spencer Lendzion tied for third place, Scott Sparks tied for 14th and Zack Tenerowicz also tied for 14th.

High Point has three golfers in the top 20 with Bartolomucci leading the way. Davis Kiger is tied for fifth with a score of 74 and Emile Menard is tied for 14th a score of 77. Evansville has four golfers in the top 20 and Albany State has three.

Outside of Hernandez for Eastern, Sophomore Charlie Adare and freshman Romeo Perez are both tied in 36th place with first round scores of 84. Junior Alex Gowin is tied for 44th place with a score of 88. Sophomore Kevin Altenberger rounded out the Panther golfers, tied for 49th place with a score of 92.

With the top five teams all still in the mix, it will take a solid all around performance for one of these teams to come away as the leader. The final round of the tournament will tee off on Thursday morning.

Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or mmshanahan@eiu.edu