Sam Houston State’s men’s and women’s golf team teed-off the fall season Monday morning at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate and FedEx Memphis Intercollegiate Tournament, respectively.

The men’s team returned to the course after winning the Southland Conference this past spring, currently holding a tie for fourth as a team at the Intercollegiate with Mississippi. Although the Bearkats lost graduated senior Albert Miner, SHSU is still led by senior Zach Cabra.

He is sitting at a tie for 10th in the individual leaderboard with teammate JT Taylor after the two shot one-under. Last year, Cabra set the bar high for himself and his teammates as he finished third in this tournament; his first competition as a Bearkat.

Followed closely behind the two is sophomore Klein Klotz tied at 21st while teammates Andrew Ertel sit at 29th and Jake McCory currently places at 65th.

Southland Conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana is alone at the top of the leaderboard heading into the second round.

On the girls’ side of the green, the Bearkats are 34-over par and find themselves in the middle of the pack at sixth.

Sophomore Paige Nelson is picking up where she left off last season after seeing a prosperous freshman season. Nelson shares fifth place in the tournament with Xavier’s Shane Crutchfield with a score of one-over in the opening round.

Senior Alisa White isn’t far behind as she shot two-over and stands tied at seventh with University of North Texas’s Eji Kwon.

In her first showing for the Bearkats, sophomore transfer Celeste Lo struggled in the back nine but managed to finish Monday at a tie for 42nd.

Rounding out the team, junior Nicole Budnik and freshman Sarah Black are tied at 51st with four other opponents.

“It took the first round to shake off some nerves, but then the team played really well together,” Nelson said.

The men’s team will tee-off the second round Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. The women will begin play at 8 a.m.