BOWLING GREEN, Fla. – Flying under the radar for most of the season, the rest of the NCAA South/Southeast Regional field is now gunning for freshman Joseba Torres following his opening-round of (-3) 69 on Thursday. The Spaniard fired a bogey-free 33 on the front nine en route to grabbing a one-shot edge atop the leaderboard. The rest of the Nova Southeastern men's golf team followed Torres' lead, as the Sharks posted an early score of (+1) before eventually grabbing a two-shot advantage by the end of the evening.

INSIDE THE TOURNAMENT:
Tournament Standing: 1st of 16 teams
Tournament Leader: Nova Southeastern
Location: Streamsong Resort | Bowling Green, Fla.
Par/Yardage: 72/7,139
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_MGolf | Instagram - @NSU_MGolf | Facebook - /NSUGolfTeam

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• NSU opened with one of the earlier tee times on Thursday, which later proved favorable, as the winds picked up as the round progressed. Hovering around the middle of the leaderboard, the Sharks gradually rose to the top with others faltering by the hour.
• At one-over par, the Sharks lead both Columbus State and Florida Southern by two strokes.
• Georgia Southwestern and Lincoln Memorial make up the rest of the Top-5, currently at six-over par.
• The top four teams in the final standings will qualify for the NCAA DII National Championship.
• Torres raced out to a one-shot cushion over four others thanks to his impressive start. Making his regional debut, the freshman rattled off three birdies on his opening eight holes. He picked up his first bogey on No. 15, yet closed out with his fifth birdie of the afternoon on No. 18 to regain a bit of his momentum.
• Javier Calles and Tomas Millet both have a share of 17^th following identical rounds of (+1) 73.
• Calles, the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year, rebounded from a slow start by draining back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and No. 14, before tallying four straight pars to cap the round.
• Similar to Calles, Millet found his rhythm later in the round, registering three birdies over his last six holes.
• Emanuel Olofsson and Victor Jimenez stand tied for 27^th after posting matching rounds of (+2) 74.
• Olofsson displayed a steady approach Thursday, collecting 15 pars, while Jimenez shot two-under par down the stretch of round one to shoot back up the leaderboard.

STATS OF THE DAY:

• NSU tied the round one lead with a collective 16 birdies.
• Torres' Par-4 scoring average of 3.70 topped the 16-team field on Thursday.
• The field's overall scoring average in round one finished at 74.75.

BEYOND THE SCORECARD:

• NSU last won the South/Southeast Regional in 2015.
• The nation's top ranked team, West Florida, currently sits in 15^th at 16-over par.

UP NEXT:
NSU will be among the final groups to tee off in round two, as the Sharks will get things rolling Friday at 12:05 p.m. For live coverage, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Instagram or Twitter at @NSU_MGolf.
 

A lot of golf still to play, but gotta love the start!

Sharks with a 2️⃣ shot lead after round 1️⃣!#PrepareToDominate pic.twitter.com/nj5birLK9R

— NSU_MGolf (@NSU_MGolf) May 7, 2021