Rasmussen tied for first, team in second

STOCKTON, Calif. -- Freshman Rhett Rasmussen posted a first place tie at the Pacific Invitational to lead BYU men's golf to a second place finish after the first round, Thursday at the par 71 Stockton Country Club.

"We had three guys play really well today and the other three not as great," BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. "It was nice playing only 18 holes rather than 36, especially because we played in the rain most of the day. We have some work to do these next few days, but I feel we have a good shot at winning this tournament."

The Cougars shot two-under-par on the day for a total score of 282 in the first round. Sacramento State leads all teams at four-under-par. Host and fellow West Coast Conference member Pacific, is in fifth place at +2 with a 286 total.

Rasmussen shot four-under-par through today's round of 18 holes. He is currently tied for first place with Sacramento State's Aaron Beverly.

"I got off to a good start and played really well," freshman Rhett Rasmussen said. "I hadn't played as well in the past few tournaments, but today I was feeling pretty confident and excited. I didn't have any nerves and I just felt more relaxed during today's round."

Junior Patrick Fishburn and teammate Austen Christiansen both shot two-under-par on the day. Together, they are tied for sixth place. Christiansen is competing individually and his score will not be added to the team's total.

"It was nice to see Austen do really well," coach Brockbank said. "He hasn’t been with us lately, so it's nice to see him have a good start."

Freshman Peter Kuest shot one-over-par on the day to finish tied for 23rd place overall. CJ Lee and Spencer Dunaway are tied for 40th and 55th places, respectively. Lee shot three-over-par while Dunaway finished with five-over-par.

The second round of play at the Pacific Invitational begins Friday at 9:30 a.m. MT.

Live stats can be found on the BYU men's golf schedule page.

Stockton Pacific Invitational - Oct. 27-29, 2016

Place	Player	Round 1	To-Par
T1	Rhett Rasmussen	67	-4
T6	Patrick Fishburn	69	-2
T6	Austen Christiansen*	69	-2
T23	Peter Kuest	72	+1
T40	CJ Lee	74	+3
T55	Spencer Dunaway	76	+5

*Competing individually

Place	Team	Round 1	To-Par
1	Sacramento State	278	-6
2	BYU	282	-2
3	Boise State	284	E
4	Seattle University	285	+1
5	Pacific	286	+2
T6	Grand Canyon	287	+3
T6	CSU - Northridge	287	+3
T6	Temple	287	+3
9	Denver	289	+5
10	Long Beach State	294	+10
T11	CSU - Fullerton	300	+16
T11	UC Riverside	300	+16
13	CSU - Bakersfield	302	+18