VALDOSTA, Ga. (April 21, 2026) – The University of North Alabama men's golf team opened the ASUN Men's Golf Championship at four-under par to sit third on Tuesday at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga.
Junior Andrew Ferworn is tied for the field's leader with a 67 (-5) during his first 18 holes of play. Ferworn had three birdies on the front and back nine with only one bogey to his scorecard on Tuesday. His six birdies tie him for second in the category — one shy of a tie for first.
North Alabama provided a strong outing to finish in third at four-under par — two strokes away from a tie for first. The strong outing is shown through the steadiness of play between the five Lions who racked up 56 pars, best for second behind FGCU with 57.
UNA also finished with the fifth-fewest bogeys today with 17 while not providing a double bogey through Tuesday's play.
Senior Xing Luo and freshman Arthur Estas both completed even par rounds that gave them a tie for 19th.
Estas fired off five straight pars before earning bogey-birdie-par-bogey-birdie in the next five. After a birdie on the 10th hole, the Belgium native had eight straight pars to finish out his first postseason tournament start.
Luo was slow out of the gate with back-to-back bogeys on the first two holes. However, the senior settled in after he took his second shot on hole four over the bunker just feet from the cup. Luo sank the putt to give the Lions their only eagle of the day — he shot one-under on the back nine holes with two birdies.
Jedd Brady had a strong start for the Lions, owning two birdies in the first three holes. He completed a 35 (-1) on the front nine after he added a third birdie on the front nine. The freshman added a final birdie on the back nine, which gave him the second most amongst the Lions with four.
Sebastian Bengtsson owned two birdies on the front nine and put eight pars down on the back nine to finish out his day at 75.
North Alabama competed directly with No. 59 Florida Gulf Coast and No. 74 Stetson in groups today. The Lions are two strokes behind the Eagles and three strokes ahead of the Hatters upon the conclusion of day one.
North Florida co-leads the tournament with FGCU with their steady day at six-under. UNF stayed in the top-three for a majority of the day as three Ospreys shot under-par.
Lipscomb sits solely in fourth with their two-under team score. The Bisons had a command of the tournament through 12 holes with an 11-under showing before letting up down the stretch.
Alongside the Hatters is Eastern Kentucky who shares the fifth spot at one-under. Last year's winner, Central Arkansas, is tied with Austin Peay at one-over in seventh. The Govs' Patton Samuels is tied with Ferworn for first, currently.
Queens, Jacksonville, Bellarmine and West Georgia finalize the final four spots.
"Andrew had a great round today," said The Schmitz Family Head Men's Golf Coach Austin Phillips. "He is tied for first and really carried our team today. I was proud of how our freshman played and to finish the way they did. Arthur, in only his third start in college, shot even par and made eight straight pars testifies how well he did. I think there will be a lot of scoring opportunities for us tomorrow and I believe we will have some big rounds from our seniors. There are a lot of possibilities out there for us this week and I know that we can go low."
North Alabama opens the second round of the ASUN Championship at 7:50 a.m. CT with Sebastian Bengtsson leading the Lions off on Wednesday.
Atlantic Sun Men's Golf Championship
Kinderlou Forest Golf Club
Team Leaderboard
T1. North Florida 557 | -6
T1. FGCU 562 | -6
3. North Alabama 570 | -4
4. Lipscomb 572 | -2
T5. Stetson 572 | -1
T5. Eastern Kentucky 576 | -1
T7. Central Arkansas 578 | +1
T7. Austin Peay 579 | +1
9. Queens 580 | +3
10. Jacksonville 581 | +6
11. Bellarmine 582 | +8
12. West Georgia 582 | +14
North Alabama Golfers
T1. Andrew Ferworn 67 | -5
T19. Xing Luo 72 | E
T19. Arthur Estas 72 | E
T27. Jedd Brady 73 | +1
T42. Sebastian Bengtsson 75 | +3
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
