SEASIDE, Calif. - No. 22 Santa Clara men's golf shot 3-under 285 in Monday's opening round of play at the 2026 Saint Mary's Invitational held at the par 72 Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course. The Broncos enter the second round in a three-way tie for ninth place with host-Saint Mary's Grand Canyon, and are just three strokes outside of the top five.
Emil Nielsen led the way individually on the day with a 2-under 70 opening round while freshman
Ryan Xie also shot under the minimum at 1-under 71.
ROUND HIGHLIGHTS:
- Nielsen, the No. 14 player nationally in the Golfweek Rankings, tallied his ninth round under par on the young season. He is part of a crowded group tied for 17th and sits four strokes behind the four-way tie for the lead at 6-under.
- Nielsen turned in six birdies to counter four bogeys in the round.
- Xie tallied four birdies of his own as part of his 1-under day, and enters the second round tied for 24th.
- The trio of J.P. Odland, Matt Robles and Jared Abercrombie (playing as an individual) shot even par for the round and are tied for 32nd.
- Tucker Sweeney, also playing as an individual, was just one over the minimum and is tied for 46th while Jack Hayden shot 6-over to round out the SCU lineup.
- No. 33 Washington, No. 47 Cal and Oregon are all tied at the top of the team leaderboard at 10-under par followed by Washington State (-9), Seattle (-6) and Pacific (-6).
SANTA CLARA INDIVIDUALS:
| Rank |
Player |
Score (To Par) |
| T17 |
Nielsen |
70 (-2) |
| T24 |
Xie |
71 (-1) |
| T32 |
Odland |
72 (E) |
| T32 |
Robles |
72 (E) |
| T32 |
Abercrombie (Ind.) |
72 (E) |
| T46 |
Sweeney (Ind.) |
73 (+1) |
| T95 |
Hayden |
78 (+6) |
