Men’s golf started the spring season in emphatic fashion with a third place finish at the Barona Collegiate Cup in Lakeside, California and set a school record for recording the lowest team score in the first round (274).

The previous school record was 276 set back in 2012 in the third round of the Pacific Invitational.

Despite the fast start, the Hornets gave away their first place lead by shooting 27 strokes off of their first-round score in the second round with a combined total of 301. They finished the first day 1-under-par and finished 14 shots behind the leader and host school, San Diego State.

“We just didn’t make putts that we made in the first round,” said Sac State coach Chris Hall. “We hit the ball just as well, but just didn’t score as well.”

Sac State rebounded well in the third round of the tournament and shot the second best score of the day with a 278. The Hornets overall score of 853 was the 4th lowest in school history for a three-round tournament.

Sophomore Aaron Beverly lead the way with his best performance of the 2014-2015 season and tied for 11th in the tournament by shooting 66-76-69-211. He was one of three Sac State golfers along with senior Luke Kristo (68) and junior Taylor Knoll (69) to shoot in the 60s in the final round of the tournament.

“Pretty much everything was working for me at the tournament,” Beverly said. “My swing felt great and I was able to hit a lot of greens. Once I did that, I was able to make plenty of putts.”

Scores in the 60s were few and far between during the fall semester with only three total over the course of five tournaments. During the Barona Collegiate, Sac State golfers shot in the 60s six times.

Knoll followed Beverly’s path for scoring with strong first and third rounds, but a weak second round. He tied for 17th and shot 67-78-69-214 for the tournament.

Kristo had the top Hornets score in the third round with a 68. He also tied for 17th with Knoll and shot 72-74-68-214.

Senior Riley Hayfield was able to shoot in the 60s for the first time this season and helped Sac State to its hot start with a 69 in the first round. He finished tied for 34th with a final score of 69-76-74-218.

Sophomore Robert Parden, who had Sac State’s best average in the fall semester with 73.00, rounded out the lineup and tied for 53rd place. He shot 76-75-72-223 for the tournament.

Xander Schauffelle of San Diego State was the medalist of the tournament with an overall score of 199.

Sac State will continue its season at the Folino Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 16-17.