NORMAN, Okla. - UALR freshman Alfred Kerstis opened his stay at the NCAA Norman Regional by carding a one-over par 73 at the 7,351-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club on Thursday. Kerstis is tied for 27th place after 18 holes and led all players with 17 pars on the first day of the 54-hole event.

Florida State and Texas are tied for first place after one round at the 14-team regional as both schools carded a nine-under par 279 on Thursday. Illinois is in third place at four-under par 284, followed by St. Mary's and Washington at two-under par 286.

Jordan Spieth of Texas leads the 75-player field at six-under par 66, followed closely by FSU's Brooks Koepka at five-under par 67. Nineteen players fired a sub-par round on Thursday, with St. Mary's Ben Geyer and Illinois' Thomas Pieters tied for third place at four-under par 68.

The top five teams and the top individual not attached to an advancing team will move on to the NCAA Championship, which will take place May 29-June 3 at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The Norman Regional includes top-ranked Texas, No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 13 Washington and No. 24 Florida State.

Second round play begins with tee times starting at 8 a.m. off hole No. 1 and No. 10. Kerstis will tee off of the 10th hole at 10 a.m. Live scoring is available at www.GolfStat.com