EDMOND, Okla. – Missouri S&T's golf team opened play in the NCAA Central/Midwest Regional Thursday with a solid opening round performance as the Miners finished the first of three rounds in a tie for first place in the team standings at Kickingbird Golf Course.

The Miners posted a four-under-par score of 276, which has them tied with Harding for the top spot and one shot in front of Grand Valley State, who finished its round at 277. Harding had as much as a five-shot lead over S&T late in the first round, but fell back to the Miners in the latter stages to bring about the tie.

The Miners also had two players shoot under par in the opening round as well, with Jeppe Thybo (Esbjerg, Denmark/Rybners Gymnasium) leading the way for the Miners as he finished with a three-under-par 67, posting four birdies on the back nine to finish the day in a tie for fifth place when he completed his round. 

Connor Benjamin (Nelson Bay, Australia/St. Philip's Christian College) finished with two birdies over the final four holes to finish with a one-under-par 69, while Carl Miltun (Gilbert, AZ/Williams Field) and Cole Komyati (Elberta, AL/Bayside Academy) each finished with even-par scores of 70 in their rounds.

Miltun opened the day with two birdies, but ended up with only one more and had three bogeys along the way until posting pars on his final six holes while Komyati recorded one birdie and one bogey in his round with pars on the other 16 holes. Isaac To (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia/Real International School) was two over on the day at 72.

The second round will take place on Friday, with the third and final round set for Saturday.  The top teams will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships in Orlando, Fla.