Site: Kingston Springs, Tenn.
Course: The Golf Club of Tennessee (Par 71, 7,107 yards)
Tournament: NCAA Regionals
HPU Individual: Brandon Einstein T-29th (72, +1)
Next HPU Round: Tuesday, May 18 -- NCAA Regionals (Kingston Springs, Tenn.), 10:20 a.m. ET
 
KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. -- Redshirt sophomore Brandon Einstein finds himself inside the top 30 and seven shots off the lead after firing a one-over 72 in the opening round of the NCAA Regional in Kingston Springs on Monday (May 17).
 
Einstein carded five birdies on the day to tie for the ninth-most in the opening round and played the par-4s one-under to be one of just 16 golfers in red numbers on the par-4s at day's end. All but one par-3 gave him trouble in the first 18 holes as he picked up two bogeys, a double, and a birdie on the short holes and had two birdies and a bogey on the par-5s.
 
His first foray into red numbers came early in the round as he fired a dart with his second shot into the second hole for a tap-in birdie and a quick start. Four pars followed before he picked up his second bird of the day on the par-5 seventh. His tee shot missed a little left and forced him to lay up, which set up a beautiful shot into the green where he converted the 12-footer for birdie. The eighth was a par-3 and he gave the shot back after he pulled his tee shot to the left and up against a rock wall. A terrific chip got him on the green with a chance to save par, but the putt just missed for his first bogey of the day.
 
Einstein's ball striking was especially impressive early in the round as the seventh hole was the only fairway he missed, and eight was the only green he failed to hit in the opening nine holes. He recovered from the bogey with a good par against a backdrop of a waterfall cascading down the face of the mountains that intertwine with the front nine, and kicked off the second nine with back-to-back birdies.
 
He hit a great tee shot on the par-3 10th that left a birdie putt and went for the green in two and made it on the par-5 11th. He had about a 25-foot putt for eagle that looked good up until the very end when it just stayed above the hole and barely caught the lip, leaving the tap-in birdie. Two more pars followed, with the second requiring a great pitch shot over a bunker that Einstein executed flawlessly. His tee shot on the 13th caught a bit of a bad break as it ended up in an old, sand-filled divot that caused his second shot to miss short. He was left with a tough shot over a bunker with not much room to land the ball but hit the perfect shot to give himself a makeable par putt.
 
The final five holes of the round gave Einstein some trouble as he picked up his fifth and final birdie of the day but also took three bogeys and a double. His tee shot found sand on the par-3 14th which led to one of the bogeys but he answered with a birdie on 15. The 16th was a long par-3 at 242 yards and a missed tee shot and ensuing pitch shot put him in a bunker on the way to a double. The last two holes weren't much better as he ended with a pair of bogeys and needed to play out of thick grass in a hazard on each hole.
 
N.C. State and Kent State are tied for the team lead at seven-under, followed by Vanderbilt and Houston in a share of third at -5 while San Diego State rounds out the top five at three-under. Vanderbilt's Reid Davenport leads the way individually after a six-under 65 and Evan Brown of Loyola Maryland currently holds the top individual spot from a golfer not on a top-five team in a share of third at four-under.
 
Einstein is paired with individual Ben van Wyk of Augusta (T-65th, +8) and Iona's William Fleck (73rd, +12) for round two of the regional on Tuesday (May 18). The trio is set to tee off at 9:20 a.m. local time (10:20 a.m. ET) on hole one.