BROOKVILLE, Fla. – The East Carolina men’s golf team shot a 1-under 287 in the first round of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championship at Southern Hills Golf Club on Friday. The Pirates are tied with No. 20 SMU heading into day two on Saturday.

South Florida leads the overall competition with a championship single round record of 18-under 270 on the par-72 course that measures 7,221 yards. Memphis is second at 3-under par.

Senior Stephen Carroll leads the way for the Pirates with 3-under round of 69 to earn a tie for sixth place after 18 holes of competition. Junior A.J. Beechler is tied for 14th with a first-round score of par 72, while senior Patrick Stephenson and Tim Bunten are tied for 19th at 1-over 73.

Redshirt sophomore Connor Jones completed round one at 3-over and is tied for 30th.

Teammates Kyle Flexsenhar and Luke Gifford of South Florida along with Wichita State’s Marcus Wochner sit atop the individual leaderboard after carding rounds of 6-under 66. USF recorded five of the top 10 rounds on the day as Alex Bergstrom finished the day at 4-under, while Sam Nicholson and Run Youprayong each shot 2-under.

The second round of the 2021 American Men’s Golf Championship is scheduled is begin Saturday at 8 a.m. with East Carolina teeing off alongside SMU from 9:25 – 9:59 a.m.