MADISON, Miss. (4/22/24) – Sophomore Thomas Schmidt and freshman Jake Lile are first and second, respectively, on the individual leaderboard at the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Golf Championship and the Arkansas State men’s golf team holds a nine-stroke advantage following the first round of play at Annandale Golf Club.

Schmidt turned in a 4-under par 68 to lead the field while Lile was one stroke back for second individually. Schmidt birdied six of the first 10 holes, including four consecutive on holes five through eight, while his only blemish was a bogey on the last. Lile made his conference championship debut one to remember finishing up at 3-under par with five birdies on the day, including birdies on three of the last four holes.

Devyn Pappas carded a 2-over par 74 to rank tied for 13th after 18 holes. Pappas had two birdies, on the fifth and eighth holes, against a double-bogey and two bogeys on the round. Jack Maxey and Hugo Ronnberg each finished up the opening round at 5-over par 77 to tie for 42nd.

A-State turned in its 13th par or better round of the season, first since the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate (Feb. 26-28) with an even-par 288 Monday. The Red Wolves were 16 strokes better than their first round at the league championship last season, including 21 strokes better on the front nine. Troy is second at 9-over par 297 while Marshall and ULM are tied for third as the only other teams to crack 300 in the opening round.

The Red Wolves begin their second round at 8:30 a.m. off the first tee. Live coverage on ESPN+ begins at 10:30 a.m. and live scores are available on Golfstat.com. For the latest on A-State men’s golf, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateMGolf), Facebook (/AStateMGolf) and Instagram (@astatemensgolf).

Sun Belt Conference Championship
First Round Results
1 Arkansas State 288 (E)
1 Thomas Schmidt 68 (-4)
2 Jake Lile 69 (-3)
T13 Devyn Pappas 74 (+2)
T42 Jack Maxey 77 (+5)
T42 Hugo Ronnberg 77 (+5)