BEAUFORT, S.C. – Towson University men's golfer Phil Minnehan paced the Tigers at day one of the 2022 CAA Men's Golf Championships Sunday afternoon. This is the second straight season the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is holding its men's golf championships on the Cotton Dike course at Dataw Island Club.

Minnehan is currently tied for 10th in the 45-player field, carding a one-under opening round on the Par 72, 6,787 yard course. 

As a team, Towson is sixth in the eight-team field, finishing with a combined +7 295. Towson is only five strokes back from third-place Drexel (+2, 290). 

How it Happened

• Competing in the CAA Championships for the first time, Minnehan logged a -1 on the day. The Rochester, New Yorker went four under on the first nine holes, carding six pars on the back nine with three bogies. 
• Brad Riley was in second for the Tigers and tied for 21st overall, posting two-over 74. Riley had a slow start to the day, posting four bogies in the first five holes. After a one-over four on the fifth hole, Riley did not card a bogey the rest of the way, including two birdies on the back nine and 12 pars on the day.
• Another freshman in Brad Freyberger was also tied for 21st overall with another 74 on the day. The rookie opened the round going two over on the front nine, leading with a birdie on the first hole but posting a double on the par-four eighth. Freyberger was even on the back nine with two birdies and two bogies.
• Justin Griffith sits in a tie for 26th overall and is Towson's fourth scorer through the first round. Griffith had an even front nine with two birdies and two bogies. A triple bogey on 10 was nearly countered with a birdie on 13, but Griffith finished with two bogies in the last three holes, finishing four over on the day (76).
• Jeremy Summerson was tied for 29th, finishing with a five-over 77 in the opening round. Summerson notched two birdies on the day on the fifth hole and again on 18.

Behind the Numbers

• Towson finished round one with the second-best scoring average on the Par 5s, going four under for a 4.80 stroke average. The Tigers had the third-most birdies on the day, carding 15 trailing only UNCW (20) and College of Charleston (18).
• Summerson had the round's third-best scoring average on Par 3s, averaging a -1, 2.75 on the short holes.

Quotables - Head Coach Mike Larkin
"I thought we got off to a solid start, going under par early and especially the freshmen playing in their first conference championship experience."

"It was one of those days where it could go either way and it didn't go quite perfectly today for us. But it's better than some of our first rounds in the past, so we're moving in the right direction."

"We only made a couple of big numbers. I'd like to see those get cleaned up for tomorrow. … We know how this tournament golf works; it can quickly flip. The guys come out tomorrow, they're just a little bit sharper and put it together at the same time and we should be in good shape."

Up Next for Towson

• Second-round action tees off at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow, back at Cotton Dike.
• Summerson goes off at 8:30 a.m., followed by Griffith (8:42 a.m.), Freyberger (8:54 a.m.), Riley (9:06 a.m.) and Minnehan (9:18 a.m.).
• All 45 golfers will tee off from the first hole on Monday morning.
• Action can be followed on GolfStat.com