Walp's hole in one, Slade's par play paces Bulldogs to second-place standing after first round of NEC Championship

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind an even-par 72 from sophomore McKinley Slade (Saunderstown, R.I.) and three more top-10 round one finishes, the Bryant University golf team sits second overall after Friday action at the 2015 Northeast Conference Championship with a team score of 294.

Slade's 72 ranks him fourth on the individual circuit entering second-round play, while juniors Kyle Buschmann (East Haddam, Conn.) and Joe Walp (Portland, Maine) and sophomore Ryan Tombs (Bedford, N.H.) all shot first-round 74s to tie for sixth overall. Sophomore John Roberts (West Hartford, Conn.) carded a first-lap 78 and sits tied for 21st.

Despite being seven strokes behind the leader, Walp produced the most impressive moment of the opening round, sinking a 186-yard hole in one on the seventh hole Friday afternoon.

The Bulldogs' 294 team score sits just two strokes behind current leader Robert Morris (292) and is four ahead of third-place Fairleigh Dickinson. LIU Brooklyn currently ranks fourth (303), with Saint Francis U. (304) rounding out the top five.

The Colonials' Garrett Browning sits alone in first place on the individual circuit, carding a five-under 67. FDU's U Minn Woon and LIU Brooklyn's George Williams are knotted in second after first-round 70s, and SFU's Shane Crampton sits in fifth just one stroke back on Slade.

Bryant is the only team to rank more than two players inside the top-10 individual scorers.

Play resumes from the LPGA International Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Fla., Saturday.