ONEONTA, Ala. (September 22, 2024) – The University of North Alabama men's golf team opened its second tournament of the season in Oneonta, Ala. at the GMAC Invitational hosted by UAB on Sunday, Sept. 22. The Lions walked away from the first round leading the field by four strokes with Xing Luo and Andrew Ferworn tied for second place at four-under-par 68.

North Alabama nabbed a first round score of 13-under-par 275 to lead the field of 13 schools. The 275 round sets a new Division I single round record which was last set in 2022 at the first round of Streaming Invitational and in 2024 at the second round of the Savannah Intercollegiate with 276.

"We played well today and had something going today," said head coach Austin Phillips. "Proud of the guys and how they handled adversity. We left some shots out there and we just have to keep going because there's some really good teams behind us."

Troy University sits four strokes behind UNA in second place with a 279 and is one stroke ahead of third place Louisiana-Monroe and Lipscomb. The Lions are also leading Louisiana Tech, in-state rival Jacksonville State, Memphis, Samford, UAB, USC Upstate, Lamar, Evansville and Alabama State.

Luo and Ferworn, just one stroke off the lead, were tied for second for a reason. Luo had an enormous day where he notched three birdies and tallied an eagle on the 11th hole. One bogey came early for Luo, but he quickly capitalized on the rest of the day. Ferworn started ablaze with birdies on five of the first nine holes. Ferworn also eagled on the 11th hole and finished the day with a birdie on the 18th green. 

Five Lions find themselves inside the top 20 after the round one. After Luo and Ferworn, junior Sebastian Bengtsson is tied for 10th at three-under-par 69, while junior transfer Blake Henriques is tied for 17th at two-under-par 70. Senior Chase Kaiser, who participated as an individual, was also with Henriques tied for 17th. Junior Corey Maher rounds out the North Alabama squad tied in the 40th spot at one-over-par 73.

Outside of Luo and Ferworn, the rest of the team surged to the front as a whole. The Lions had 24 birdies as a team with 15 coming from outside the top two guys. Bengtsson impressed with birdies on two par-threes on the fifth and 15th holes. Ferworn, Henriques and Maher provided five or more birdies to lift the team.

The tournament resumes play on Monday, Sept. 23 with the second round of the tournament before concluding on Tuesday, Sept. 24 with the third and final round. 

GMAC Invitational 
Limestone Springs Golf Club

Team Leaderboard
1. North Alabama    275    -13 
2. Troy            279    -9
T3. ULM        280    -8
T3. Lipscomb        280    -8
5. Louisiana Tech    282    -6
6. Jacksonville State    283    -5
7. Memphis        285    -3
8. Samford        287    -1
9. UAB            290     +2
10. USC Upstate    293    +5
11. Lamar        294    +6
12. Evansville        307    +19
13. Alabama State    311    +23

North Alabama Golfers
T2. Xing Luo            68 | -4
T2. Andrew Ferworn        68 | -4        
T10. Sebastian Bengtsson    69 | -3
*T17. Chase Kaiser        70 | -2
T17. Blake Henriques        70 | -2
T40. Corey Maher        73 | +1

* denotes individual participant

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.