Live Scores / Tee Times

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (SMU) -- Led by freshman Ben Baxter's 4-under par 68, the SMU Mustangs men's golf team closed the first round at the NCAA Noblesville Regional tied for second on Thursday. The Mustangs carded a team score of 285 (-3) to match No. 4 Illinois on the opening day at The Sagamore Golf Club.

SMU began the day on the back nine and spent almost the entire round in the top three on the leaderboard. After three straight bogeys left him at 1-over through eight holes, Baxter rattled off five birdies on the front nine to finish the day tied for the individual lead at 4-under with Colorado's Jeremy Paul and David Oraee.

Junior Bryson Dechambeau also had a strong first day for SMU, finishing the round at 3-under after also making five birdies on the front nine. DeChambeau enters the second round tied for fourth individually. Fellow junior Austin Smotherman shot a 2-under 70 to be tied for seventh after day one. Smotherman briefly led the tournament early on after carding four birdies over his first seven holes.

Sophomore Andrew Buchanan gave SMU its fourth counting score, posting a 6-over 78. Junior Ryan Burgess finished the day with an 85.

"We had a great effort from Bryson, Ben and Austin today," SMU head coach Jason Enloe said. "Anything under par today was a great score as the course played very difficult. Andrew and Ryan practiced hard and will play great for us the rest of the way. I'm pleased with our start, as we have struggled recently in opening rounds. We still need to play our game for the next two rounds and if we do, good results should follow."

Colorado leads the event at 11-under with four players in the top 10 individually. SMU and Illinois are tied for second, with No. 15 UCLA and UNLV rounding out the top five. No. 8 Oregon, No. 21 Alabama, Georgia Southern and Alabama State are within seven shots of fifth place, the last transfer spot for the NCAA Championship finals.

SMU will begin the second round on the front nine at 9:15 a.m. ET/8:15 a.m. CT tomorrow, grouped with Illinois and Colorado.