CONOVER, N.C. - Junior CJ Messana fired a first-round 5-over-par 77 to lead the Anderson men's golf team to seventh place following Monday's first-round action at the Rock Barn College Invitational, hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne at the 7,027 yard, par-72 Rock Barn Spa Jones Course.
As a team, Anderson (315) is seven shots behind King University (308) and 10 strokes behind North Greenville (305) entering Tuesday's final round. The Trojans are three shots in front of both Newberry (318) and Belmont Abbey (318) and eight strokes ahead of Mars Hill (323).
Messana is in a five-way tie for 18th, while teammate Sean Shelton is one shot further back after carding a first-round 6-over-par 78. A trio of Trojan golfers, Arran Setro, David Wachter and Rob Warren are in a five-way tie for 39th after posting an 8-over-par 80.
Queens' Freddie Nordhoff carded a 1-under-par 71 and sit atop the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of North Greenville's Sam Goodnight, USC Aiken's Andrew Ward and teammate Alex Weare.
The tournament will conclude on Tuesday.
