UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Harrison Blech of the Binghamton golf team finds himself in a tie for fifth place on the individual leaderboard after the first day of the Rutherford Intercollegiate Saturday at the Penn State Blue Course.
 
The senior shot 70-70 – 140/2-under par throughout the first 36 holes, posting three birdies to counter two bogeys in each round. Blech's final tally for the day is one stroke shy of his lowest round at Bearcat, which he has shot on two different occasions during his collegiate career. He is two shots back of St. Thomas' Owen Rexing, who leads the field at 4-under par.
 
Brandon Conner, meanwhile, is just outside of the top 20. The senior is tied for 24th at 71-73 = 144/2-over par. Conner began the day by recording four birdies in the opening round to finish the first 18 holes at even par. He followed that with another two birdies in the second round.
 
Overall, Binghamton is in 12th place as a team at 295-292 = 587/19-over par. Host Penn State leads the team leaderboard at 285-275 = 560/8-under par.
 
The final round begins at 8 a.m., on Sunday with split tees.
 
Matthews Auto is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Golf.