Shane Ffrench Career-Best 66 Leads USC Men's Golf Opening-Round In Hawaii

Sophomore Shane Ffrench fired a collegiate career-best 6-under 66 while senior transfer Jack Boulger posted his Trojan best 2-under 70 to lead the USC men's golf team in the first round of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course Hokuala in Lihu'e, Kaua'i on Thursday (Feb. 17).

USC finished the first round in fifth with a season-best 5-under 283, eight shots back of leader Arizona and just two back of second place.

The Trojans challenged for the lead for part of the day thanks in large part to Ffrench's career-best effort, the sophomore going out at 2-under and coming in at 4-under, including a streak of six birdies without a blemish between 6 and 15.

Ffrench is tied for second, just one off the lead.

Boulger, playing individually, finds himself in a tie for 17th at 2-under thanks to his first round in the red as a Trojan. He turned at par and closed at 2-under, including a streak of three straight birdies.

"Today's round was really good." USC Coach J.T. Higgins said. "We let a few slip coming in or it would've been awesome. It was fun to be near the top of the board and to see us executing the game plan at a high level.

"Shane was amazing today. He had one hiccup on his third hole but was pretty much flawless after that. I am really impressed with him this spring and feel like he is back in form.

"This is the kind of golf we are capable of playing. It's not perfect but it's competitive and hopefully it gives us some confidence going forward. Really excited about the next two days to see how we do."

Freshman Jackson Rivera notched his ninth round of par or better with a 1-under 71, good for a tie for 24th.

Sophomore Krando Nishiba is tied for 37th at par thanks to a strong back-half effort that saw him close at 3-under on the final nine.

Rounding out USC's efforts is freshman Gavin Aurilia, tied for 52nd at 2-over and junior Parker Sisk, tied for 91st at 6-over 78.

Play continues Friday and Saturday with 8:30 a.m. (HT) shotgun starts.