FARMINGDALE, N.Y.—Sophomore Chad Tordone (Barnstable, Mass.) sits atop the leaderboard after shooting a career-best 5-under 65 and classmate Howie Poon (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is just one shot back after carding a 4-under 66 in the opening round of the Farmingdale State Invitational on Saturday on the Red Course at Bethpage State Park. 

The Beavers, who had four players finish under par in round one, are in first place at 7-under after posting a season-best score of 273 on Saturday. Bowdoin is four shots back at 3-under after shooting 277, Amherst (279) is third at 1-under and Williams and Farmingdale State are tied for fourth at 1-over. 

In addition to the low collegiate rounds by Tordone and Poon, sophomore Aman Vantipalli (Alpharetta, Ga.) shot a 2-under 68, while senior Colin Fowler (Portland, Ore.) finished round on with a 1-under 69. Junior Jack Berry (Western Springs, Ill.) carded a 1-over 71 and senior Shane Quinn (Morristown, N.J.) concluded the day at 2-over with a 72. 

Tordone opened the day with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 before making seven birdies over his final 15 holes. He made the turn at even, got to 1-under for the day on the par 4 11th hole and then closed with birdies on Nos. 14-16 and another on 18 to shoot a back-nine 31 on the way to taking a one shot lead. 

Poon got off to a quick start with his second birdie of the day at the par 5 fifth hole and got to 3-under for the day with another birdie at No. 13. He made his lone bogey of the round on the 14th but responded with birdies on Nos. 15 and 17 to move into a two-way tie for second along with Thomas Zhang of Amherst. 

Vantipalli made the turn at 2-under and later responded with a stretch of three bogeys in five holes by making three straight birdies at Nos. 15-17 to grab a share of seventh place. Fowler put together a steady round that included two birdies and one bogey to finish round one in a tie for 11th position just four strokes off the lead. 

Berry made four birdies and five bogeys and is tied for 25th at 1-over, while Quinn got back to even for the day with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 before dropping a pair of shots over the final two holes to end the first round in a tie for 31st. 

Babson will begin final round play on the Red Course at 10:57 a.m. on Sunday. 

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    The Beavers shot 289-290 in two rounds on the Red Course at Bethpage last April on the way to placing sixth. 
•    The course average was 73.35 in Saturday's first round, which saw 18 players finish under par. 
•    Babson led the 16-team field in par 3 scoring at 2-under and was first in the field with 21 birdies on Saturday. 
•    Tordone ranked first in par 4 scoring at 2-under and tied for first in par 5 scoring at 3-under, while Vantipalli led all players in par 3 scoring at 3-under in the first round.