KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - Ross Thompson leads the Buccaneers through the first round of the Wendy's Kiawah Classic played on the Turtle Point Golf Course at the Kiawah Island Resort as Charleston Southern is tied for 11th overall in the team standings at the conclusion of the first day.

CSU is in a four-way tie with High Point, Boise State and Stetson after the first 18 holes in the team standings as the Buccaneers carded a 300, sitting 16-over par after first round action.

The Buccaneers were led on the day by Thomson as the redshirt junior finished the first round at two-over par with a first round 73 to sit tied for 30th overall after the first 18 holes. Thomson finished the day with birdies on holes one, nine and 11 to pace the Bucs efforts.

Sophomores C.J. Liner and Jarrett Swan are currently in a 14-way tie for 46th place over at four-over par as the CSU duo combined for three birdies on the day, while freshman Nicolas Baena sits two strokes back tied for 70th with a first round score of 77 on the par 71 course.

Sophomore Choo Teck Ng rounds out the group head coach Mike Wilson placed in the field for the Buccaneers with a first round 79, finishing eight-over par after the first 18 holes.

Junior Jason Fick and freshman John Graves also competed among the field as individuals with Fick finishing the first round with a score of 80, nine-over par, while Graves carded an 84 in his first action on the season.

Utah Valley's Mason Casper and South Carolina's Caleb Sturgeon are tied for the individual lead after the first 18 holes of the Wendy's Kiawah Classic, while South Carolina has the overall team lead through the first round on the Turtle Point Golf Course at the Kiawah Island Resort after play concluded on Sunday evening.

Casper was among the first golfers on the course, teeing off at 8:02 in the morning for Utah Valley and his score held up as the low round of the day until a late charge by Sturgeon closed out his round in the afternoon with birdies on holes 17 and 18 to tie for the lead. The duo hold the individual lead with matching 68s, three-under par for the day.

South Carolina's Matthew NeSmith sits one stroke off the lead in sole possession of third place after a round, finishing the round with four birdies and two bogies to finish the first 18 holes at two-under par, while there is a four-way tie for fourth place at one-under par between John Schaffer (Francis Marion), Alex Ellis (College of Charleston), Will Starke (South Carolina) and Jimmy Dengler (Loyola University-Maryland).

The Gamecocks are the lone team to finish under par on the first day with a cumulative score of 282, two-under par on the opening round to hold a seven stroke advantage over Winthrop. College of Charleston is one stroke behind the Eagles in third place, while Radford and Western Kentucky round out the top five.

Wisconsin's Brady Keegan recorded an ace in his round for the Badgers and was the only player in the tournament to card a hole-in-one on the day on hole four, draining his shot from the tee on the fourth hole.

The teams will be back on the course tomorrow morning with the first group teeing off from the first hole at 7:30 a.m.