Rasmus Seppanen
Joe Mattis

Men's Golf Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Seppanen Tied for Seventh after Opening Round at NCAA Div. II National Championships

Gannon tied for 13th following 18 holes

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Gannon men's golf team is in a tie for 13th place following the first day of competition at the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships. The Golden Knights are tied with Central Missouri at 297, 9-over par.
 
The opening three days at the PGA National Champion Course consist of a 54-hole stroke play tournament. Twenty teams and eight individual qualifiers teed off on Monday for the opening 18 holes. The top eight teams will advance to Thursday's head-to-head medal play tournament.
 
St. Mary's (TX) is in first place after 18 holes with an impressive 9-under par score of 279. That is seven strokes ahead of second place Florida Southern, who comes in at 2-under par 286. Lee is a third team that finished under par with a total of 1-under 287. Gannon sits just a stroke behind 12th-place Oklahoma Christian (296, +8).
 
While three teams under par, the individual leaderboard featured 19 of the 108 golfers fashioning rounds under par. Another 16 golfers carded even-par rounds of 72.
 
"Things went well today," related Director of Golf Scott Stano. "The wind was significantly more difficult on the second nine and on the more challenging side.
 
"Tomorrow the goal is to shoot a low number in the morning and put ourselves in contention for the top eight. Rasmus (Seppanen) was awesome today. He holed some birdie putts. Tomorrow will be a great day to dig deep.  Bear Trap played tough with the strong winds."
 
SEPPANEN IN TOP TEN AFTER FIRST ROUND
Redshirt sophomore Rasmus Seppanen (Bastad, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) followed up a strong showing in the NCAA Div. II Atlantic/East Regional with a great start at Nationals. The redshirt sophomore finished with a 2-under par round of 70 and sits in a tie for seventh place after the opening 18 holes. Seppanen birdied the par-3 5th hole and par-4 8th hole to post a 34 on the opening nine. He added two more birdies on the windy back nine, on back-to-back par-4's – the 12th and 13th holes. Seppanen was the runner-up at the Atlantic/East Regional.
 
Bennett McNabb of Lee holds the individual lead with an impressive 6-under par 66. His round featured sn eagle and seven birdies. Florida Southern's Colton Swartz is a stroke behind at 67 followed by three golfers from St. Mary's (TX). Kongpop Kalkaew and Baptiste Touchard each shot a 68 for a tie for third with Guillaume Paquette tied for fifth at 69.

DELORENZI ONE OF 36 GOLFERS AT EVEN PAR OR BETTER
Giovanni Delorenzi (Reggio Emilia, Italy/International School of Modena) is tied for 20th at 72 and also went out in 34 with birdies on the par-5 sixth hole along with also birdieing the eighth hole. The junior was 3-under after posting a third birdie on the par-5 10th but his back nine had three bogeys.
 
Elijah Ruppert's (Fleetwood, Pa./Brandywine Heights) round also featured three birdies but the senior ended the day at 4-over 76. Sophomores Mattia Parrini (Verolengo, Italy/Verolengo) and Kyle Westfall (Erie, Pa./Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (Erie)) finished at 79 and 81, respectively. Parrini opened with a birdie on the opening hole but did not card a red number the rest of the day.
 
Westfall also had one birdie, but he claimed a big prize on Sunday when he was the recipient of the NCAA's Elite 90 Award as the top academic performer at Nationals.
 
The teams will play will return to the course for the second round on Tuesday. Gannon's contingent of golfers will tee off beginning at 9:20 a.m. after teeing off shortly after noon on Monday.
 
THE TOP 5 TEAMS (20 teams total)
1.  St. Mary's (TX) – 279 (-9)
2.  Florida Southern – 286 (-2)
3.  Lee – 287 (-1)
T4.  North Georgia – 289 (+1)
T4.  Missouri S&T – 289 (+1)
T13. GANNON – 297 (+9)
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (108 golfers)
1.  Bennett McNabb, Lee – 66 (+6)
2.  Colton Swartz, Florida Southern – 67 (+5)
T3.  Kingpop Kalkaew, St. Mary's (TX) – 68 (-4)
T3.  Baptiste Touchard, St. Mary's (TX) – 68 (-4)
T5.  Guillaume Paquette, St. Mary's (TX) – 69 (-3)
T5.  Bernard Meyer, Columbus State – 69 (-3) 
T7.  Rasmus Seppanen (Bastad, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium), Gannon – 70 (-2)
T7.  Jordan Wilson, Central Oklahoma – 70 (-2)
T7.  Lewis Beeden, Wingate – 70 (-2)
T7.  Oskari Nikku, Oklahoma Christian – 70 (-2)  
 
THE GANNON SCORES
T7.  Rasmus Seppanen (Bastad, Sweden/Akademi Bastad Gymnasium) – 70 (-2)
T20.  Giovanni Delorenzi (Reggio Emilia, Italy/International School of Modena) – 72 (E)
T68.  Elijah Ruppert (Fleetwood, Pa./Brandywine Heights) – 76 (+4)
T92.  Mattia Parrini (Verolengo, Italy/Verolengo) – 79 (+7)
T99.  Kyle Westfall (Erie, Pa./Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (Erie)) – 81 (+9)
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Players Mentioned

Giovanni Delorenzi

Giovanni Delorenzi

6' 1"
Junior
Environmental Health Engineering
Mattia Parrini

Mattia Parrini

Sophomore
Business/Management
Elijah Ruppert

Elijah Ruppert

6' 1"
Senior
Environmental Engineering
Rasmus Seppanen

Rasmus Seppanen

Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
Kyle Westfall

Kyle Westfall

6' 0"
Sophomore
Electrical Engineering

Players Mentioned

Giovanni Delorenzi

Giovanni Delorenzi

6' 1"
Junior
Environmental Health Engineering
Mattia Parrini

Mattia Parrini

Sophomore
Business/Management
Elijah Ruppert

Elijah Ruppert

6' 1"
Senior
Environmental Engineering
Rasmus Seppanen

Rasmus Seppanen

Redshirt Sophomore
Computer Science
Kyle Westfall

Kyle Westfall

6' 0"
Sophomore
Electrical Engineering