DALLAS, Texas -- Furman's Clark Akers (-5) fired an opening round 67 to tie for third Sunday and lead the Paladin men's golf team in round one of the Trinity Forest Invitational, which is being hosted by SMU at the par 72, 7,617 yard Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.

A junior from Nashville, Tenn., Akers teed off on No. 10 and birdied five out of seven holes from No. 12 through the turn.  He added consecutive birdies on No. 2 and No. 3 then scored a final birdie on No. 7 to finish with a team-high eight birdies.  He sits three back of individual leader Jack Buchanan (-8) of Southern Cal who led the field with a 64 on Sunday.

Junior Harris Barth (-3) carded a 69 with five birdies to tie for 16th.  He posted back to back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16 then tallied three-straight birdies from No. 2 through No. 4.  Freshman Ludvig Josefsson (+3) and senior Will Morlan (+3) are tied for 65th after each recorded a 75 in round one.  Josefsson birdied No. 7, while Morlan added three birdies in the round.  Senior Trey Diehl (+5) shot a 77 with a birdie on No. 10 to tie for 7th.  

Southern Cal (-15) smoked the field with a 273 on Sunday to take a three-stroke lead over Loyola Marymount (-12).  UNLV (-11) and Louisiana (-11) are tied for third, while SMU (-9) completes the top five.  The Paladins (-2) are in ninth place, ahead of Power 5 foe N.C. State (+1), among others. 

Furman ranked second with a 3.94 scoring average on the par 4s. 

The 54-hole tournament continues beginning at 9:55 a.m. ET on Monday.  Furman will tee off on No. 1 starting at 10 a.m. ET and will play in a group with Rice and Louisiana Tech.  Admission is free and fans are welcome.  Results and live tournament scoring are available via https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/233230/scoring/team.

9 Furman 286 -2
T3 Clark Akers 67 -5
T16 Harris Barth 69 -3
T65 Will Morlan 75 +3
T65 Ludvig Josefsson 75 +3
T75 Trey Diehl 77 +5