DUPONT, Wash. – The 2019 season opened up on the Saints' home course, and Saint Martin's came prepared to defend it. The Saints shot 289-283-572 and finished tied for second led by Dennis Geissler and his career low round on Friday.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
   
Geissler, who got the start in the four spot for the Saints, finished the first round at even par 72 with four birdies. However, in the second round, he found more of his stroke and cruised behind a five birdie performance to a new career low at 68. On the day, Geissler's 140 placed him tied for sixth overall out of 76 golfers.
 
NCAA Regional qualifier last year, Tyler Fitchett, opened up his campaign with a solid 73-70-143 performance. His one-under par effort was highlighted by seven birdies, five of which came in the second in the second round. Fitchett's placed tied for 18th overall with his teammate Max Turnquist. Turnquist (71-72-143) was in sync on the back nine, making six birdies, three each round to fuel his performance.
 
Alec Charles placed fourth on the team, and 39th overall with a 73-73-146, two-over par showing. After a rough start to the day, Charles came alive on the back nine of the first round, and it carried over to the second round. Overall, Charles carded nine birdies, and dominated par 5 scoring, shooting 5-under par on the day. Closing out the scoring for the Saints was Brooks McKinney, who concluded the day at 76-77-153, which tied his career low in a single round at 76. McKinney closed out the two rounds with three birdies, all of which came in the second round.
 
In the individual side of action, Andy Renne began his Saints' career off strong, shooting a 4-under par 68. After his 74 in the second round, Renne's total of 142 placed him tied for 15th overall on the leaderboard. Jordan Terada and Ethan Finau each competed as well, with Terada going for 79-74-153 and Finau at 87-83-170.
 
"I am pleased with the way the guys executed today, and stuck with the game plan," said head coach Kevin Bishop. "The tournament experience this team gained last year, and over the summer showed. Excellent rounds of 68 by Dennis and Andy, was very nice to see in the first event of the year. Tomorrow will be a great opportunity to finish what we practice for daily."
 
Saint Martin's tied with Dixie State for second overall but have a long way to go to catch the leader Simon Fraser. The Clan (286-270-556) lead the field by 16 strokes, followed by SMU and Dixie State at 572 and Western Washington and British Columbia at 573.
 
The third and final round of action will begin at 8:00 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live results of the tournament will be available on smusaints.com.