PALM HARBOR, Fla. (SMU) – The SMU men's golf team carded a 16-over-par 300 on day one of the American Athletic Conference Championship Sunday.

Senior Alex Higgs and junior Gray Townsend paced the Mustangs in round one and are tied for 11th after shooting a pair of 2-over-par 73s. Higgs posted an unblemished front nine and continued the flawless day through 13 holes, before late bogeys on holes 14 and 17. Townsend went 1-over on both sides of the turn, highlighted by a birdie on hole No. 7.

Freshman Daniel Connolly carded a 5-over-par 76 to finish tied for 30th. Andrew Buchanan and Jackson Markham carded 78 (+7) and 79s (+8), respectively.

USF leads after day one at 3-over-par (287), followed by Houston (+4, 288) and UCF (+5, 289) to round out the top three.

The Mustangs continue play at American Athletic Conference Championship Monday. SMU will be paired with Temple and East Carolina, and tee off at 8:15 a.m. ET/7:15 CT. Live scoring is available on Golfstat, and a recap will be posted on SMUMustangs.com.