WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Senior Barend Botha carded an even-par 72 and is tied for 17^th place following the opening round of the NCAA West Lafayette Regional at the par-72, 7,461-yard Kampen Course at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Botha registered a birdie and bogey on both the front and back nines to finish his day at even-par.

The George, South Africa native opened his day with fix straight pars before notching a birdie on the par-five, 598-yard No. 6 hole. He then bogeyed the next hole before getting back in the red by notching a birdie at the par-four, 477-yard No. 12 hole. He remained at one-under until a bogey on the par-five, 608-yard 16^th hole.

"Barend played some pretty good golf today and made some quality shots," Head Coach Jeff Roope said. "He had a few misses, but he ended up scrambling for pars when he did. I think if he can clean up his speed putting just a little bit, he has the capability to post some low scores. The golf course is in great shape with the greens rolling like they should for an NCAA Regional. I'll be interested to see what the next two days hold."

Vanderbilt leads the 13-team field with an 11-under par 277 with Arizona (283, -5), Purdue (284, -4), Florida (289, +1) and New Mexico (290, +2) comprising the top five.

Botha's round ranked second among the individuals competing in the tournament, trailing only Wisconsin's Cameron Huss. Huss is leading the 75-player field with a six-under par 66, one stroke in front of the Commodores' Gordon Sargent.

The Commodores' team score is the lowest round ever posted in NCAA play at the Kampen-Cosler Course, and Huss' 66 is the lowest all-time individual NCAA round at the venue.

The top five teams plus one individual not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. on May 24-29.

Botha will tee off in tomorrow's second round at 10:04 a.m.

TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Ind.-Cameron Huss (Wisc.) 66 (-6); 2. Gordon Sargent (Vandy) 67 (-5); T3. Cole Sherwood (Vandy) 69 (-3); T3. Johnny Walker (Ariz.) 69 (-3); T5. Tiger Christenson (Ariz.) 70 (-2); T5. Parker Bell (Fla.) 70 (-2); T5. William Moll (Vandy) 70 (-2).