LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Pepperdine men's golf team got things underway at the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate, finishing tied for third after the first round with a 282-team score.

The Waves are knotted with #30 Texas A&M and #35 San Diego State who also shot 6-under.  Florida and Illinois are in the top two slots after posting 278 and 280 scores respectively. Pepperdine leads three teams ranked in the top-five and five teams in the top-20 after the first one, including standing a shot ahead of #1 North Carolina and five shots ahead of both #2 Auburn and #4 Arizona State.

Mahanth Chirravuri is leading the squad after shooting a 68 to tie for fifth after 18-holes.  He is two-shots back from Jack Lundin from Missouri in first and one-shot behind the players tied for second-place.

Pepperdine will be paired with the Tar Heels and Aztecs for round two tomorrow, teeing off at hole one beginning at 9:50 a.m.

PLAYER SCORES

• Sophomore Mahanth Chirravuri (Chandler, Ariz.) shot a 4-under 68 and is tied for fifth.  He totaled five birdies, including four on his first errorless 11 holes. 
• Sophomores Brady Siravo (Sacramento, Calif.) and Joshua Koo (Cerritos, Calif.) are tied for 26^th after tallying 71's.  Siravo picked up back-to-back birdies on the 14^th and 15^th, and another one on the 9^th, while going through 14 holes without a bogey in the middle of the day.  Koo rallied from a slow start on the first nine holes with a birdie on the 18^th before the turn.  He then posted another three birdies in four holes – three through six.  After a bogey on the seventh had him one-over, he finished the day with an eagle on nine to end under par.
• Freshman William Walsh (San Mateo, Calif.) finished the round with a 72 to tie for 38^th.  He birdied to start the day and had another on the second hole.
• Freshman Kristoffer Kuvaas (Houston, Texas) is tied for 48^th after shooting a 73.  He had a pair of consecutive birdies on holes six and seven to close the day out strong.

 
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Florida 278; 2. Illinois 280; T3. Pepperdine 282; T3. Texas A&M 282; T3. San Diego State 282; 6. North Carolina 283; T7. Oklahoma 284; T7. Texas 284; 9. New Mexico 286; T10. Auburn 287; T10. ASU 287; 12. Missouri 290; 13. UNLV 291; 14. TCU 292; 15. Georgia 297

Top Individuals: 1. Jack Lundin (Missouri) 66; T2. Ian Gilligan (Florida) 67; T2. Tyler Goecke (Illinois) 67; T2. Josele Ballester (ASU) 67; T5. Mahanth Chirravuri (Pepperdine) 68; T5. Maxwell Ford (UNC) 68.