WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | ROUND ONE SCORES

PROVO, Utah ... BYU leads all teams at the 2017 West Coast Conference Golf Championships at 9-under, as the Cougars finished out the first round strong at the par-72 Riverside Country Club golf course on Thursday. 

The No. 47 ranked Cougars carded a score of 279 in the first round of conference tournament play closing out the round shooting 7-under as a team on the final three holes (Nos. 6-9). Defending WCC Champion Saint Mary's trails BYU at 5-under, while Loyola Marymount, No. 22 Pepperdine and Santa Clara are deadlocked in third place at 2-under. 

Santa Clara's Hayden Shieh sits atop the individual leaderboard, firing a 5-under 67, one shot in front of a three-way tie for second place at 4-under between Loyola Marymount's Riley Elmes, BYU's Patrick Fishburn and Gonzaga's Angus Montgomery. No fewer than 19 student-athletes posted an opening round score of par or better. 

Montgomery leads the field with seven birdies in the first 18 holes of the event while Fishburn, Pepperdine's Roy Cootes and San Diego's Dalton Hankamer each carded an eagle. 

Second round of the 2017 WCC Championship tee off Friday with tee times starting at 7:50 a.m. PDT. The 2017 Championships are free and open to the public. The third and final round is Saturday. Thursday's tee times were pushed back an hour from the original start time due to concerns of morning frost on the course. 

Team Scores: 1. BYU 279; 2. Saint Mary's 283; T3. Loyola Marymount 286; T3. Pepperdine 286; T3. Santa Clara 286; T6. San Diego 289; T6. Gonzaga 289; 8. San Francisco 290; 9. Pacific 297.

Top Individuals: 1. Hayden Shieh (Santa Clara) 67; T2. Patrick Fishburn (BYU) 68; T2. Riley Elmes (Loyola Marymount) 68; T2. Angus Montgomery (Gonzaga) 68; T5. four players tied at 69.