Daytona Beach, Fla. – Junior Garrett Browning tied the Robert Morris University men's golf record with a five-under par round of 67 in the first round of the 2015 Northeast Conference Men's Golf Championships Friday. Browning's score has helped the Colonials to the first round lead at the 54-hole event at LPGA International's Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
The Colonials four-over par round of 292 is the team's lowest ever at the NEC Championships and gives the squad a two-stroke lead over defending champion Bryant. Fairleigh Dickinson is third at 298 followed by LIU Brooklyn (303), Saint Francis U (304), Sacred Heart (310), Central Connecticut State (313), Wagner (317) and St. Francis Brooklyn (358). Robert Morris led the field with 12 birdies and played the par-four holes (+6) better than any other team in the first round.
 
Browning's 67 is the second-lowest score in NEC Championship history and the lowest round in relation to par (-5) in RMU history. The West Allegheny graduate tallied six birdies, three on both sides of the 6,919-yard par-72 layout to take a three-stroke lead over the field. After bogeying the par-five second hole, Browning did not make an error the rest of the way with birds on two of the three remaining par-five holes. His round was the eighth under-par round by an RMU player in championship play.
 
Senior Ryan Prokay finds himself in a tie for sixth-place after his opening round 74. He picked up birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, both par fours, to get to one-under par. He finished out the front nine at even par before finishing two-over for the round.  Classmate Matt Gurska scored par on the first five holes before bogeying the sixth and then getting back to even with a birdie on the 509-yard par five eighth hole. He finished with a 39 on the back en route to a 75 that leaves him tied for 12th.
 
Senior Santiago Mejia opened play with three straight bogeys before recovering to shoot a four-over par 76 and put himself in a tie for 16th. The native of Colombia birdied the eighth-hole and added another bird on the 516-yard par-five 15th. He finished with a 38 on both sides of the course. Junior Dan Maier rounded out the RMU contingent with an 82. Maier shot a 39 on the back-nine, ending the day on a positive note to put himself in a 35th-place tie.
 
The Colonials continue to search for their first NEC title since 1996 when round two of the three-day event gets underway Saturday, May 2.