Battlin' Bears top Round 1 leaderboard at Frontier/Cal Pac Men's Golf NAIA Qualifier

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Bolstered by a pair of 4-under-par 68s from Kristjan Burkelca and Jared Smith, the Rocky Mountain College men’s golf team leads the Frontier Conference/California Pacific Conference Men's Golf NAIA Qualifier after the first of three scheduled rounds at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz. Rocky Mountain carded a collective score of 10-under-par 278 in Monday’s Round 1 to build an 18-stroke lead over second-place Montana Tech, who recorded a score of 296. Smith and Burkelca lead the field at 4-under, followed by a trio of golfers — RMC’s Aidan McDonagh, Montana Tech’s Carson Hupka, and Simpson’s Trey Alwart — tied for third at 2-under 70. Simpson came in a stroke behind Montana Tech at 9-over 297, followed by Carroll (320), Soka University of America (334), Providence Christian (341), California Maritime (341), and MSU-Northern (374). In order to receive an automatic berth to next month's NAIA national championship, the Frontier and Cal Pac conferences cooperated to meet the minimum number of six participating teams. First round results, second-round pairings, and live results for the duration of the tournament are available through Golf Genius. The qualifier will proceed with its second round Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. PDT in a shotgun start.