NAPA, Calif. (March 24, 2025) – The University of North Alabama men's golf team finished day one in seventh at the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational on Monday at the Silverado Resort (North) in Napa, Calif. 

The Lions slipped to seventh in a tough day with a solid group of teams. North Alabama is typically a great birdie team and this day was no different as they held second place with 37. They edged out the tournament leading team Tohoku Fukushi University by one. 

Junior Xing Luo finished in second with a seven-under day and 137 stroke score. He finished just two behind Tohoku Fukushi's Koichiro Furuse. Luo finished first for par-4s with an eight-under at a 3.60 average. He also finished first in birdies with 13, two more than second place. Luo had seven birdies in the first round alone. 

Tohoku Fukushi finished with a 14-under day as a team, even a nine-under round one. Santa Clara finished in second at seven-under but posted a six-under round one to stay close with the top seed.

Nihon University finished one stroke behind Santa Clara for a six-under day after the six-under came fully in the second round. San Francisco finished in fourth with a two under while Michigan State finished with a one-under.

UC Davis finished at seven-over to edge out UNA as the Lions notched a 10-over for the two rounds. The Lions bested No. 27 BYU as they shot 11-over by one stroke. Cal Poly finished with a 13-over for ninth. Howard and Florida A&M both finished with 28-over two round day for 10th. 

North Carolina A&T, Central Michigan and Texas Southern filled out the 12, 13 and 14 spots for the day.

The Lions golfers chronologically finished exactly how they did after the first day of the Daytona Beach Intercollegiate after the first day of the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational.

Blake Henriques finished 34th with a five-over day. He finished even for the first round and matched Luo with seven birdies himself. 

Chase Kaiser was right behind him in 41st one stroke behind for six-over. Andrew Ferworn finished with a seven-over day for a 45th placement. Sebastian Bengtsson claimed the 60th spot at 11-over. 

The Lions finished with 22 birdies in the first round and 15 in the second. 

"Tough day today where other than Xing we struggled," said The Schmitz Family Head Men's Golf Coach, Austin Phillips. "These days happen and we will come back tomorrow. We will keep fighting, we believe in this team, and won't give up."  

UNA finishes the tournament tomorrow, March 25 starting at 8:30 a.m. at Silverado Resort (North). 

Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational
Silverado Resort (North)

Team Leaderboard
1. Tohoku Fukushi    562    -14
2. Santa Clara        569    -7
3. Nihon        570    -6
4. San Francisco    574    -2
5. Michigan State    575    -1
6. UC Davis        583   +7
7. North Alabama    586    +10
8. #27 BYU        587   +11
9. Cal Poly       589     +13
T10. Howard        604    +28
T10. Florida A&M    604    +28
12. NC A&T        606    +30
13. Central Michigan    626    +50
14. Texas Southern    631    +55

North Alabama Golfers
T2. Xing Luo            137 | -7
T34. Blake Henriques        149 | +5
T41. Chase Kaiser        150 | +6        
T45. Andrew Ferworn        151| +7
T60. Sebastian Bengtsson    155 | +11

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