The Eastern men’s golf team continues to struggle as the Panthers are in last place after day 1 of the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational.

The Panthers shot a team score of 621 at the par-71 Gateway Golf Course in Madison.

Eastern sits 20 strokes behind Mott Community College, who shot a 601 as a team.

Freshman Alvaro Hernandez shot a two rounds of 2-over, 73 Monday and continues to lead the Panther golf team.

Fellow freshman Charlie Adare shot 1-over par in the first round in the morning and then shot 10-over in the second round Monday afternoon.

Junior Daniel Hughes shot two rounds in the 70s and finished with a total score of 155 for the first day. Hughes shot a 8-over, 79 and a 5-over, 76 in the afternoon.

After shooting a 69 last weekend, senior Austin Sproles struggled as he shot a 171 for the tournament. Sproles shot a 17-over, 88 and 12-over, 83.

Sproles tied freshman Kevin Allenberger, who shot a 171 as well. Allenberger shot a 21-over, 92 in the first round Monday and followed up with a 8-over, 79.

The Panthers currently sit in 15th place.

Leading the way was host Southern Illinois Edwardsville who finished -15 as a team and currently sits in first place.

Belmont shot a team 562 as a team, which was six-under-par. Four other teams shot under par for the day.

Missouri State, South Dakota, Bradley and Austin Peay all finished under par for the day.

Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee Tech and Western Illinois all tied at two-over-par as a team.

Leading the way for individuals was Jordan Rykal from South Dakota, who fired two 66s Monday. Parker Lawerence from Edwardsville currently sits three strokes behind Rykal.

Rounding out the top five is Ashton Van Horne from Belmont, who shot a 136. Van Horne tied A.J. Wilkerson from Tennessee Tech.

Brik Brauburger from Missouri State and Chris Baker from Austin Peay tied for fifth place with a 137.

The final round will start at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]