WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (Apr. 28, 2024) - The Buena Vista University men's golf team began the American Rivers Conference Championships on Sunday afternoon at Glen Oaks Country Club, and the Beavers got off to a strong start led by sophomores Mason Laven and Matthew Turpen.

The duo each carded opening rounds of 77 and are tied for tied for 12th overall, only five shots back of the lead.

Laven began his round with six straight pars and ended the front nine with a birdie on the par-five ninth hole for a two-over 39. He notched his second birdie in three holes on the par-five 11th before finishing with a 40 on the back nine. Turpen, who is coming off a top-10 overall finish a year ago, had three bogeys on the front nine and three more on the back nine while recording pars on the other 12 holes.

Kaleb Sander sits three shots back of Laven and Turpen after posting an 80 (39-41) over his first 18 holes. Cooper Sebastian followed with an 83 while Justin Hanks rounded out the line-up with an 87.

The Beavers tallied a team score of 317 for the day which has them in seventh overall and only six shots behind Wartburg for sixth. Nebraska Wesleyan (300) has a one shot lead over Luther (301). 

Second round action of the 54-hole event is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Monday, Apr. 29. Pairings for the final two rounds will be based on the team score following the previous round(s). Individuals will also be repositioned within their team based on their accumulating score from prior rounds.