FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – In the Binghamton golf team's first event of the spring season, Harrison Blech finds himself near the top of the leaderboard after the opening day of the Sacred Heart Spring Break Invite Monday at Eagle Harbor Golf Club.
 
The senior shot 71-72 = 143/1-under to put himself in a tie for second place out of 61 golfers after the first 36 holes. Blech began the day by posting four birdies in the first round, including three on the back nine. He followed that with five more birdies in the second round.
 
Blech aims to win his first collegiate tournament during the final round on Tuesday. The Montebello, N.Y., native's previous best finish was when he tied for seventh at the 2024 Matthews Auto Collegiate Golf Invitational. In Binghamton's home event that year, Blech posted his lowest score over 36 holes at 142/2-under par. He went on to match that same score at the 2025 Matthews Auto Collegiate Golf Invitational.
 
Alex Patel, meanwhile, is tied for 17th as the freshman shot 73-76 = 149/5-over par in his first spring event. Fellow freshman Jack Tebeau is tied for 24th at 76-75 = 151/7-over par. Brandon Conner overcame an 80/8-over par in the first round by shooting 72/even-par in the final 18 holes to finish the day 29th at 152/8-over par. Both Sean Shen and Jackson Vesper are tied for 31st at 154/10-over par. Shen put up scores of 79-75, while Vesper shot 78-77 on Monday.
 
Overall, Binghamton is in fourth place at 299-294 = 593/17-over par. Manhattan leads the team standings at 285-296 = 581/5-over par. Rafli Sati of Merrimack sits atop the individual leaderboard at 69-73 = 142/2-under par.
 
The final round of the Sacred Heart Spring Break Invite begins at 8:30 a.m., on Tuesday.
 
Matthews Auto is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Golf.