BLAINE, WA â€" Even on the other side of the country this week, and without his Moccasin teammates, Brian Richey is still trying to bring a national title to Florida Southern. Playing as an individual qualifier at the Division II National Tournament, Richey shot a one-over par 72 on Tuesday, and finished round one in a tie for seventh place.

Richey was in one of the final two groups to tee off, and by the time he walked off the course, most of the 108-player field had long ago turned in their scorecards. Only one of them broke par too. Gene Webster of Cal State-San Bernardino picked up two early birdies, then played steadily the rest of the day to finish with a 70 (-1). Five other golfers were even par on the day, followed by a group of six golfers that included Richey with a 72.

Richey isn’t the only individual qualifier among the early leaders. Jonathan Burke of Barton College (NC) is one of the players tied for second, and Matt Ewald of Washburn (KA) is tied with Richey in seventh place. Ewald actually had the lead for much of the opening round after he aced his fourth hole of the day. It came on #13, a downhill 326-yard par four. It was the first hole-in-one ever recorded on that hole since Loomis Trail Golf Club opened in 1992. Ewald followed that with a birdie on #14 to drop his score to four-under and was still two-under with five holes to play; he bogeyed three of them, however, to fall back to seventh place.

In the team standings, Barry and Sonoma State (CA) had a share of the lead at nine-over par, with 3rd-place Northeastern State (OK) four strokes behind them. CSU-San Bernardino and Lynn complete the top five.

Round two at Loomis Trail Golf Club gets underway at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time, with Richey in the first group.

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