DALLAS, TEXAS -- Furman's Clark Akers (-8) fired an 8-under 64 Sunday to grab the individual lead following Sunday's opening round of the Trinity Forest Invitational at the par 72, 7,617 yard Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.

A senior from Nashville, Tenn., Akers opened the tournament with an eagle on the par-5 No. 10 then birdied three out of four holes from No. 14 through No. 17 to turn at 5-under.  He notched consecutive birdies on No. 1 and No. 2 after the turn then added additional birdies on No. 5 and No. 7 to finish with a team-high seven birdies and tie the fourth-best round in Furman men's golf history.

"Today was a lot of fun," said Akers after the round.  "My putter felt really good, and I got the momentum going early.  I just put my foot on the gas and never turned back."

At the end of Sunday's round, Akers holds a two-stroke lead over Lukas Boandl (-6) of Rice and Jonas Appel (-6) of Baylor, who each carded a 66 in the tournament's first day.

Senior Harris Barth (-1) finished the day with a 1-under par 71 with three birdies to tie for 18th, while senior Zach Frazer (E) carded an even 72 with birdies on No. 15 and No. 18, tying for 28th.  Junior Fisher Kennedy (+3) is tied for 56th after posting a 75 with four birdies, and sophomore Ludvig Josefsson (+4) recorded a 76 with three birdies, including back to back birdies on No. 1 and No. 2, to tie for 63rd.

Southern Cal (-9) and Baylor (-9) are tied for the team lead, two strokes ahead of South Alabama (-7).  The Paladins (-6) are tied for fourth with Houston (-6) and Rice (-6).  Host SMU (-5) sits in seventh, followed by SoCon foe ETSU (+1), who is tied for eighth with North Texas (-1) and Sam Houston (+1).  

The 54-hole tournament continues Monday beginning at 9:55 a.m. ET.  Furman will tee off on No. 1 and will play in a group with Houston and Rice.  Admission is free and fans are welcome.  Results and live tournament scoring are available via https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239449/scoring/team.

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T4 Furman 282 -6
1 Clark Akers 64 -8
T18 Harris Barth 71 -1
T28 Zach Frazer 72 E
T56 Fisher Kennedy 75 +3
T63 Ludvig Josefsson 76 +4