STOCKTON, Calif. – With one round complete at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational, sophomore Joey Vrzich is three shots back of the individual lead.
 
Vrzich, who is currently ranked as the 11^th-best player in the nation, got off to a slow start for his standards after playing the front nine at 1-over par. He turned it around though on the back side, collecting six birdies in that nine-hole stretch, including three in a row on holes 12-14. He finished the day with a 4-under 67 and finds himself just three shots behind Kevin Velo of San Jose State for the lead.
 
As a team, the Wolf Pack is tied for fifth place in the 16-team field, along with Long Beach State and Sacramento State, at 3-under par. Nevada and the rest of the field are trying to catch San Jose State, which leads the event at 13-under par, four shots better than the second place team, No. 16 BYU. Nevada also got strong play from one of its newcomers in junior Tony Gil. Gil led the entire field of 90 golfers with 16 pars during his round and made birdies on No. 2 and 3 to card a 2-under 69. He will enter Friday's second round in a tie for 15^th place.
 
Fellow junior Sam Harned turned in an even par round of 71 for his opening 18 holes. Harned was on pace to shoot 68 but ran into some trouble on the last few holes to finish at even par and in a tie for 37^th. Sam Meek and Stephen Osborne carded identical rounds of 74 on Thursday and are both tied for 59^th place.
 
Live scoring for the entire tournament will be available on GolfStat.com.
 
Nevada Players
T4. Joey Vrzich, 67 (-4)
T15. Tony Gil, 69 (-2)
T37. Sam Harned, 71 (E)
T59. Sam Meek, 74 (+3)
T59. Stephen Osborne, 74 (+3)