New Haven, Conn. – The Robert Morris University men's golf team ended the first round of the NCAA Tournament New Haven Regional exactly where were they seeded after 18 holes on what proved to be the toughest course of the NCAA Tournament's six regional sites. The Colonials, seeded #13, sit 13th with two rounds left to play. RMU carded a team total of 305 (+25) on the 6,803-yard, par 70 layout at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.
 
The Colonials shared the lead for much of the opening nine holes before falling off the one-over par 281 pace set by first round leader #16 South Florida. Ohio State sits second at 282 followed by San Diego State (284), #5 Vanderbilt (285) and #20 Oklahoma State (286) rounding out the top five. The Course at Yale was the only regional site that did not allow a team to shoot under par with the other five regions yielding leading scores ranging from 13-under to four-under.
 
Junior Dan Maier paced Robert Morris on day one coming out with a five-over par 75 to put himself into 46th. His round featured a trio of birdies, two of which came on the front nine holes to help account for a one-over par 35. He would need 40 strokes on a back nine journey that was highlighted by a bird on the 379-yard par-four 11th hole.
 
Senior Santiago Mejia was one-under through six hole after scoring par on the opening five holes and racking up his only birdie of the day on the par-four sixth. Mejia managed six more pars on the back nine, but a pair of double-bogeys and a bogey on the final hole gave him a 76 and put him 54th in the field.
 
Senior Matt Gurska and junior Garrett Browning both carded rounds of 77 Thursday, but they went about it in decidedly different manners. Gurska was even through seven holes, a birdie on the second hole offsetting a bogey a on the fourth, before finishing the front two-over par. A birdie on the 215-yard par-three 15th hole had the senior sitting just three-over par heading into the final hole. Gurska, however, found trouble on the 621-yard finishing hole carding a nine en route to his 61st place tie.
 
Browning, meanwhile, struggled on the front. A triple-bogey six on the ninth hole put him at six-over par after the first nine holes. He bounced back to shoot just one-over par on the back nine. A birdie on the par-four 14th helped him to a 77 and tie for 61st.
 
Senior Ryan Prokay ended his round by playing two-under par on the final three holes. The Grove City-native finished with a 78 after shooting 37 on the front and 41 on the back. His final round total of 78 has him tied for 67th overall.
 
Robert Morris begins the second round at 9:50 a.m. on the 10th hole.