The men’s golf team started off the BIG EAST Championships with a hot start, finishing two strokes over par (290) and sitting in second place one stroke behind Georgetown (289) in Callawassie Island, South Carolina.

Freshman Hunter Eichhorn led the Golden Eagles at three strokes under par (69) and is tied for first place individually with Georgetown’s Cole Berman.

“It seems like the bigger the stage, (Eichhorn) turns his game up, ” head coach Steve Bailey said. “He continues to battle and compete. Obviously, he really helped us down the stretch.”

Bailey was proud of his entire team as well. Every player shot five strokes over par (77) or better.

Head coach Steve Bailey was impressed with Eichhorn’s performance in the first round, but he was also proud of all of his guys in general and thinks that they showed great potential for the next two days.

“I feel really happy about today,” Bailey said. “I was really impressed with our fight too. I’m really proud of how the guys kept battling, especially down the stretch. I’m really pleased overall.”

Marquette has a 19-stroke lead over Villanova and DePaul, which are tied for third place. With Marquette winning the BIG EAST Championship in two out of the last three years, Bailey said he thinks the team’s experience on the course can help them carry their great play into the second round.

“There’s a lot of positives, especially the way we finished, that’s going to carry over,” Bailey said. “We’ve got to keep moving forward and stick to our process, don’t deviate from it. Hopefully that’ll merge into tomorrow.”

Austin Kendziorski will be the first Marquette athlete to start tomorrow’s action with a 8:40 a.m. Central time.