WILLIAMSBURG, Va. --- Coming into the 512-yard Par 5 18th at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, the Xavier men’s golf team was 9-over par for the day. But birdies from all four scorers on No. 18 pushed the Musketeers to just 5-over through the opening round of the NCAA Golf Championship East Region.

Senior Tim Donovan (Cincinnati/St. Xavier) birdied two of the last three holes on Thursday, including No. 18, to lead Xavier with an opening round 1-under 71. His classmate Jeff Marr (Lexington, Ky./Tates Creek) also birdied two of the last three to finish at 2-over.

Sophomore Bryon Harger (Marion, Ohio/River Valley) shot a 35 on the front nine en route to a 1-over 73 in the first round. Matt Makinson (Coquitlam, B.C./Centennial Secondary) was XU’s fourth and final scorer with a 3-over 75. Tim Smith (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Francis) shot an 81 on Thursday.

The four final hole birdies gave the Musketeers a team total of 293 for the opening round.

Xavier will start on the back nine for Friday’s second round. The Musketeers will tee off from No. 10 beginning at 12:45 p.m. Friday. The pairings for Saturday’s final round will be determined based on the scores through the first two rounds of the tournament.

The top 10 teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C. at the end of the month.

Half the field teed off early Thursday afternoon. To see where Xavier stands in comparison to the other 27 schools, and for live scoring, go to www.golfstat.com. Look for updates after each round on www.xavier.edu/athletics.