BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For the third time in the last two seasons, Brandon Conner shot 5-under par over 18 holes to nearly tie the Binghamton golf record for lowest round relative to par. His 67/5-under par Saturday at the Lehigh Invitational puts him in first place out of 45 golfers after the first round at Saucon Valley Country Club.
 
The junior began the day by posting a birdie on four holes on the front nine. After recording a par on the first five holes of the back nine, Conner shot a three for an eagle on the par 5 15th. He would recover from a bogey on the 17th hole with a par on the 18th to close out the round.

“Just a great round by Brandon today,” said Binghamton Head Golf Coach Bernie Herceg. “He drove the ball well and made some great putts. The eagle on 15 was excellent.”

 

The Cincinnati, Ohio native previously shot 5-under par twice in consecutive rounds of consecutive events during the fall portion of the 2023-24 season. Conner first shot 66 in the final round of the Cornell Fall Invitational to finish tied for 12th. He followed that with a 67 in the opening round of the Matthews Auto Collegiate Golf Invitational. Connor followed that with a 70/2-under par in the final round to finish tied for second at 137/7-under par.

 

This is not the first time a Binghamton golfer has shot 5-under par this season. Back on Sept. 10 during the final round of the Howard/USF Intercollegiate, Sean Shen posted a 65, the lowest score of his career over 18 holes.

 

At least eight different golfers have shot 5-under par or lower in a round in the history of Binghamton golf. Both Jake Katz and Gray Potter are tied for the lowest round relative to par in program history at 6-under par. Katz set the record at the 2010 Lafayette Invitational, while Potter tied the mark at 2015 Missouri Invitational.

 

Two other Bearcat golfers are also just outside the top 20. Ryan Millevoi finished the first day tied for 24th at 78/6-over par. Shen is one shot behind him at 79/7-over par to find himself tied for 26th on the leaderboard.

 

Overall, Binghamton is sixth as a team at 305/17-over par. Conner holds a three-shot lead over William & Mary’s Preston Burton.

 

The final round of the Lehigh Invitational begins on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.