ELLICOTT CITY, Md. – Stepping up to the par 3 17th hole at Turf Valley Resort's Original Course during the opening round of the NEC Men's Golf Championship,
Harrison Blech of Binghamton golf team looked to bounce back from recording back-to-back bogeys on the prior two holes. One swing later, he became the talk of the tournament.
The senior hit a shot that landed just to the right of the flagstick, before rolling left into the cup for a hole-in-one. Blech immediately celebrated with his father Seth, Binghamton Head Golf Coach
Bernie Herceg and the rest of his group. With one shot, Blech became the third Binghamton golfer ever to ace a hole during the program's Division I era, which dates back to 2001. The last Bearcat to post a hole-in-one was Justin Lane, who recorded it at the 17th hole of Boulder City Golf Club during the second round of the 2021 Big Sky Championships.
"It was a lot of shock," said Blech. "I've been playing my whole life and never had one. But it was awesome to be able to have it at my final tournament here at Binghamton, and to have Coach [Herceg] and my dad made it all the better."
Blech's ace helped him finish the first round at 71/even-par, putting him in a tie for ninth place. The Montebello, N.Y., native has shot even-par or better in three of his last four rounds. At the Rutherford Intercollegiate on April 18, Blech shot 70/1-under par in each of the first two rounds of the tournament.
Overall, Binghamton ended the first day tied for seventh at 295/11-over par.
Brandon Conner also finds himself inside the top 20, as the senior is in a tie for 17th place at 73/2-over par. Freshman
Jack Tebeau, who is making his first appearance at the NEC Men's Golf Championship, is tied for 23rd at 74/3-over par.
Howard leads the 12-team field at 281/3-under par, with the Bison's Bear Huff in first place on the individual leaderboard at 68/3-under par.
The first round was suspended due to the lightning in area. It will be completed on Saturday morning, just as the second round gets underway. Binghamton's will first tee off at 10 a.m.
Matthews Auto is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Golf.
