Arkansas golf team opened the NCAA Championship tied for second place with Pepperdine with a team score of 281 (+1), just one stroke behind Georgia Tech.
The team score of 281 tied for the third-best single-round by the Razorbacks at the NCAA Championships, trailing a 271 in 2013 and a pair of 279’s.
“I think it was a great start,” head coach Brad McMakin said. “To have two guys shoot a combined 7-under on this golf course was truly remarkable. You are going to hit a ball in the desert, but you have to just find a way how to minimize your mistakes. I think, this being our third year out here, we know how to do that. Overall, I thought our team played really well.”
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (66) and Wil Gibson (67), who are tied for second and fifth, respectively, led the opening-day charge. They combined for 11 of Arkansas’s 20 birdies, tying Pepperdine for most for round one.
The 281 is the program’s best by four strokes at Grayhawk Golf Club, shooting a 285 in round four of the 2021 Championships. And the scores by Fernandez de Oliveira and Gibson are the top two scores by Hogs in the three years at the course.
Fernandez de Oliveira’s 66 is the third-best by a Razorback at the NCAA Championship behind Nicolas Echavarria’s 64 in 2013 and John Daly’s 65 in 1986.
“Playing in the desert, you have to stay patient and keep a level head,” Fernandez de Oliveira said. “You can get really good breaks or you may have to take an unplayable (penalty). You just have to keep cool and figure out what shot you are going to play next.”