MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla.—Sophomore Evan Eichenlaub (Bethlehem, Pa.) fired a 2-under 69 and classmate Jack Barry (Western Springs, Ill.) shot a 72 to help the 16th-ranked Babson College men’s golf team finish day one of the Golfweek October Classic in a tie for 15th place at the Raven Golf Club on Sunday. 

In a field that features 18 nationally-ranked programs, No. 21 Sewanee finished with an opening round score of 11-under 273 and holds a one-stroke lead over No. 6 Washington & Lee. No. 5 Oglethorpe (277) is third at 7-under, No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan (280) is fourth at 4-under and No. 7 Huntingdon and No. 25 Rochester (281) are tied for fifth position at 3-under. 

Ten of the 24 teams finished under par on the 6,623-yard, par-71 course on the grounds of the Sandestin Beach Resort. 

Eichenlaub continued his strong start to the season with four birdies and two bogeys on the way to posting a 69 that has him tied for 17th position. He made the turn at 1-under, birdied the par 4 first hole and then offset a bogey at No. 5 with his final birdie of the day at the 599-yard par-5 seventh. 

Berry started his day with five straight pars and made birdies on Nos. 2, 5 and 6 to get to 2-under for the day before giving three shots back with a triple bogey on his final hole of the day, the par-4 ninth. He is tied for 42nd place at 1-over after recording the best round of his career. 

First-year Aman Vantipalli (Alpharetta, Ga.) is tied for 50th after carding a 2-over 73 in round one. Starting on the 10th hole, he made two early birdies and got back to 1-under for the day with his third birdie of the day on the par-4 fifth hole before finishing with a bogey and a double bogey. 

Junior Tomas Amaya (Singer Island, Fla.) will enter round two tied for 97th position after shooting a 6-over 77, while senior John Baldwin (Little Compton, R.I.) started his day with consecutive birdies but posted a 7-over 78. 

Babson begins second round play on Monday at 8:35 a.m. ET. 

TOURNAMENT NOTES

•    The Beavers are making their second consecutive appearance at the Golfweek October Classic after shooting 299-301-281 to tie for 11th place last season. 

•    Eichenlaub, who has started the season with three straight top-five showings, has finished under par or even-par in three consecutive rounds. 

•    The average score for the 120-player field was 73.13 in Sunday’s first round. 

•    The tournament features eight of the top-10 and 11 of the top-15 programs in the latest Golfweek Bushnell Division III poll.