BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The Colorado Mesa men's golf team opened the spring season on Sunday (Mar. 5) with the first round of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri-St. Louis, at Boulder Creek Golf Club. The Mavericks opened the massive 20 team field in eighth place after the first-round scores were completed this evening.
 
Colorado Mesa shot 307 in their first round which put them ahead of some of the top teams in the field including No. 23 Cal State Monterey Bay, No. 3 West Florida and RMAC foe No. 10 CSU Pueblo. Fellow RMAC competitor Colorado Christian leads the field with a 299 in their first round just ahead of No. 8 Lee and No. 4 Oklahoma Christian.
 
Yael Chahin led the Mavericks in round one with a 1-over, 73 to sit in a tie for fifth place on the overall leaderboard. Chahin finished his round with two birdies and three bogeys after opening play with five straight pars. He birdied No. 13 after starting on hole No. 8 and closed out his round with a birdie on No. 5 followed by a pair of pars.
 
Peter Grossenbacher was one stroke behind his teammate at 2-over, 74. Grossenbacher finished with three birdies, three bogeys, and the dreaded double-bogey on the par-4, No. 9. He is still in a tie for ninth place on the individual leaderboard.
 
Ian McCrary from Missouri-St. Louis leads the tournament with a 3-under, 69.
 
The Las Vegas Desert Classic is taking place at Boulder Creek Golf Club which is also the site of this year's RMAC Championship in April.
 
Tomorrow's second round is scheduled to tee off at 9am mountain time.