ST. HELENA ISLAND S.C. – Sophomore Brad Riley fired a 4-under 32 on the front nine as part of an even par round of 72 during the first round of the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Golf Championship on Sunday at the Cotton Dike Course on the Dataw Island Golf Course.

Riley made a birdie on No. 3 then moved to -3 after an eagle on No. 7. He finished the front nine with a birdie on No. 9 and made the turn atop the leaderboard. He played the back nine at 4-over and is tied for ninth.

Senior Jackson Courtney was 1-under through 13 holes and finished with a 76 (+4), the same score as junior Justin Griffith. Both played the front nine under par but were 5-over on the final nine holes.  

"In addition to Brad both Jackson and Justin were 2-under through six holes, so there was a time where we had the top three names on the leaderboard" Towson head coach Mike Larkin said. "The first few holes are somewhat generous, so as long as you are putting the balls in the right spots, you can have early success. I was proud we did that and put ourselves in a good position. I talked to Brad after his round and it sounded like he could have shot 66 if he got some breaks."

Julian Gonzalez made 12 pars and finished with an 80.

The top four scorers shot a combined 304 (+16). Towson is tied with Delaware for 6^th place after Sunday's round. The three-day tournament will conclude Tuesday, April 27. The College of Charleston leads the tournament at 12 under, five shots ahead of Drexel.  

"The back nine is a lot more challenging," Larkin said. "The guys felt like they let a few shots get away late, but it was nice to see our name in the mix. It comes down to discipline. It was not as if anyone had one of those rounds where they hit it all over the place and shot a high number. Most of the guys felt like they should have been a lot lower. They were in the right positions, but just didn't get the scoring result."

Because Jeremy Summerson, Towson's number 5 finisher during the opening round, beat Delaware's fifth place golfer by two strokes, the Tigers will play Monday's round with fourth place William & Mary (+7) and fifth place Elon (+10). The teams will tee off between 9:20-10 a.m.

"This is a lesson that every stroke counts," added Larkin. "Having the opportunity to play with those two gives us an advantage to be paired with teams who are playing better and to also be able to see what the groups right in front of us (Delaware and Hofstra) are doing. The message after the round was to stay the course, make a couple tweaks and see what happens."

Only eight teams are competing for the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament this year, as UNCW withdrew from the event due to a COVID-19 issue within the Seahawks' program. UNCW is ranked 56^th in the latest GolfStat rankings, the highest among CAA teams.

Towson earned the 2010 CAA championship when three Tigers placed in the top seven. Since joining the league in 2002, two Towson players have earned individual championships – Billy Wingerd (2004) and Juan Veloza (2014).

TOURNAMENT DETAILS 
Host: Colonial Athletic Association
Location: St. Helena, S.C
Dates: April 25-27, 2021 
Course: Dataw Island Golf Club – Cotton Dike Course – 6,787 yards; par 72