Rutgers’ Bennett Espenshade leads individual competition;
Alexis Rouleau and Max Li co-lead Team Canada – NextGen Selection Camp
FOOTS BAY, Ont. – The New Mexico Lobos shot a collective 8-under to sit atop the team leaderboard following the opening round of the third playing of the Men’s Canadian Collegiate Invitational at Öviinbyrd Golf Club in Foots Bay, Ont.
The opening round saw numerous lead changes in the team competition with the two-time defending champions, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Mississippi State Bulldogs and New Mexico holding the lead as the players battled windy conditions on Sunday.
“Lots of consistent play. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes as far as compounding mistakes we’d follow them up with par or birdie and that’s the key out here we talked about, don’t compound your errors because you’re going to make some out here, you’re going to hit in the heavy rough but just make sure you give yourself a chance at par and if you miss it you tap in for bogey and go get the next one,” said Jake Harrington, head coach of New Mexico.
Leading the way for the Lobos was the trio of Johnnie Clark, Wyatt Provence and Thayer Plewe who all recorded rounds of 3-under 68 along with Oliver Scriven’s 1-over 72 counted for New Mexico in the opening round, who take a six-shot lead into Monday.
“Just came back from Japan where everything is super tight so you come out here it feels a little wider even though it’s not, you get off the beaten path out here you’re going to get penalized for it but we were in control of ourselves today. We don’t need to be a hero, just put ourselves in position and win the day and that’s what we did today. Thayer, Johnnie and Wyatt all shooting 3-under today, that’s a solid top three right there and we’ll take that every day,” added Harrington.
The Lobos recently finished as runner-up at the Pan Pacific University Golf Super League in Shizuoka, Japan and Clark took home first place honours individually. For Harrington keeping this momentum through the next two days to put the Lobos in a position to win would mean a lot to the program.
“It would justify to my administration why we haven’t played golf in the U.S. yet,” he said with a laugh, adding “it’s life experiences, it’s experience for these guys and you want them to see everything and that’s what it’s all about.”
Despite the longer round and tougher conditions on Sunday, Harrington and his team are impressed with the first experience at the invitational.
“We’ve heard nothing but great things about this event. Before we even stepped foot on the golf course, they [team] said coach can we come back. Our host family is so great, and the people here are so great so it’s like guys let’s pump the breaks a little, let’s go see the golf course and then we can figure out if we can come back. It’s been everything everyone told us, it’s been an incredible experience.”
Trailing New Mexico is Mississippi State who currently sit in second at 2-under and were the only other program under par on Sunday. The Bulldogs were led by Bryson Hughes who shot a 3-under 68 with Arth Sinha 1-under 70, Finn Burkholder even par 71 and Gavin Isbell 2-over 73 counting to the team total for round one. The Fighting Irish are third at even par.
In the individual competition Bennett Espenshade (Rutgers) of Baltimore, Md. shot a 4-under 67 to lead by one over four others at 3-under. Espenshade admitted sorting out some struggles with his driver today.
“Found something on the range this morning and had a lot of confidence with that and if you hit fairways out here, you can hit some pretty close and I made a couple putts but I kept it pretty clean, couple hiccups in the middle but was able to bounce back pretty well,” he said.
Espenshade grabbed four birdies on the front nine before giving two shots back with consecutive bogeys at nos. 11 and 12. He then responded with two birdies from his final three holes to jump back atop the leaderboard.
Espenshade has familiarity with the course after finishing T18 last year in the Canadian Collegiate Invitational.
Trailing Espenshade are Bryson Hughes (Mississippi State) and New Mexico trio Johnnie Clark, Wyatt Provence and Thayer Plewe at 3-under. Two players are T6 at 2-under.
The 2026 Canadian Collegiate Invitational features an expanded field and is led by co-hosts Kent State University and Penn State University. Returning this year are the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Rutgers University and the University of Missouri. Six new teams are competing including Mississippi State University, Santa Clara University, Abilene Christian University, Northen Illinois University, Cal Poly University and the 2026 Canadian University/College champions, University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO).
The 54-hole tournament features an expanded field of 13 teams and eight individuals, totalling 73 collegiate players competing for the top spot in both team and individual competitions, running concurrently over 54 holes. The top four scores from each team of five count towards the daily team combined score.
This year’s individual champion will earn an exemption into the 2027 RBC Canadian Open, returning to TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, June 7 – 13, 2027. The top five individual finishers will also receive exemptions into the 122nd Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO.
Current Team Canada – NextGen member Alexis Rouleau of Montreal, Que. and Max Li of Richmond Hill, Ont. are tied for the lead at 2-under following rounds of 69 in the Team Canada – NextGen Selection Camp.
Rouleau, who won the selection camp last year, carded five birdies in his round on Sunday. Training the leaders is fellow Team Canada – NextGen member, Chase Jerome of Ottawa, Ont. who shot a 1-under 70.
The selection camp is running concurrently with the Men’s Canadian Collegiate Invitational with a field of 21 junior boys competing for one secured spot on the 2027 Team Canada – NextGen roster. To view the leaderboard following the opening round click here.
To view the team and player leaderboards following the opening round of the 2026 Men’s Canadian Collegiate Invitational click here.
The post New Mexico lead following opening round of the 2026 Men’s Canadian Collegiate Invitational first appeared on Golf Canada.
Article Link: https://www.golfcanada.ca/articles/new-mexico-lead-following-opening-round-of-the-2026-mens-canadian-collegiate-invitational/