Live scoring and full coverage

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Kennesaw State sophomore Jeff Karlsson shot a 5-over par 75 on Thursday during the first round of the NCAA Southeast Regional, held at the Crabapple Club in Alpharetta, Ga. He finds himself in a tie for 39th heading into Friday’s second round, when he will tee off at 9:30.

Karlsson, who is the first-ever Owl to qualify for an NCAA Division I golf regional, was even par through 14 holes on the par-70 layout before trouble found him in the bunkers before he could get into the clubhouse. He pulled his tee-shot on the par-3, 220 yard 15th hole into a sand trap short of the green, and it took him two shots to get the ball onto the green, leading to a double-bogey five. After making bogey on number 16, a par-4, he would once again have a tough experience in the sand. His tee shot on the par-4 17th would find a fairway bunker, and his second shot hit the front lip of it, resulting in him having to take another shot to get it out, which ultimately led to a double-bogey six.

The Gothenburg, Sweden native, who is ranked 164th in the nation among collegiate golfers according to Golfstat, had a round of ups and downs. He began his day at 10:10 a.m. and made bogey on the first two holes, and after making pars on numbers three and four, it appeared that he could be headed for a high score, before making some nice recoveries to keep his round in check. An errant tee shot on the short par-4 fifth put him in the trees, and after pitching out to the right of the green, he hit his third shot about 10 feet past the hole, leaving him with a tricky downhill putt for par. He would respond by curling the putt in for a solid par.

On the very next hole, the par-3 sixth, Karlsson was left with a tough up-and-down opportunity after hitting his tee shot left of the green. He hit his chip firm, and it was perfectly on-line, hitting the flag stick and falling in for an improbable birdie-two to put him at just one-over par for the day.

Following three straight pars to close out the front nine in 1-over 36, he would make birdies on holes 10 and 12 to put him at one-under for the day before he ran into trouble towards the end of the round.

In order for Karlsson to qualify for the nationals, which will be held at the Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he will have to be the top-finisher in the field among those players that are not on one of the five teams who qualify for nationals.

Karlsson will go off at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning, and will be paired with Justin Martinson of Delaware, another individual participant, and Chris Scialo of Towson, whose team qualified by way of winning the Colonial Athletic Association title. Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video