The Penn State Behrend men's golf team is tied for 28th place out of 41 participating institutions at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After day one of competition, the Lions carded a team score of 312 on the par 72 west course (6710) and are 28 strokes behind the leader, Methodist who tallied a 284. Behrend is tied with Hope College.
Senior Scott Klein had his best first day at nationals, finishing even for the course with a 72 to tie for 15th overall heading into the second day. The senior was +2 after the first nine holes and managed two birdies on the back nine to get even.
Junior Nicholas VanDamia led the team with four birdies to card a 73 (+1) after the first 18 holes. He was even coming into the back nine holes and ended with a 37 for one over par and tie for 29th overall.
Senior Dante Vetica tallied a 41 going out and coming back he shot a 42 with one birdie on hole 16 for an 83 total. He finished +16 to tie for 180th place. Sophomore Cody Stinson was fourth on the team and tied for 187th with an 84. He shot birdie on hole 14 (395 yards) and tallied a 42 on the front and back nine.
The fifth golfer for Berhend, sophomore Brian Ropiecki, recorded a 92 (47-45) and was able to match VanDamia with a birdie on hole 13.
The Lions tee off tomorrow morning at 12:50 p.m. for round two of the championships on the east course (72 - 7200). Behrend must finish in 18th place or better to move onto the final round.