PEORIA, Ill. – Webster University opened up defense of its St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship here Monday as the Gorloks shot rounds of 287 and 301 to sit in first place among seven teams following the first day of the 2019 SLIAC Men's Golf Championships held at Weaver Ridge Golf Club.
 
Webster's score after 36 holes of the championship is 588 and is 44 shots in front of second place Fontbonne, who carded a 632 as a team on Monday and 68 shots in front of third place Westminster (Mo.) College, who shot a 656 for 36 holes. Fontbonne carded rounds of 313 and 319, while Westminster shot rounds of 327 and 329.
 
The Gorloks, who are seeking a three-peat as they have won the SLIAC title the past two seasons, had all four its counters on Monday place in the Top 5 of the individual leaderboard as sophomore Will Hocker (Grapevine, Texas/University of Oklahoma), who the defending individual medalist from last year's championships, leads the way after carding a 2-under par 142 for 36 holes to lead by two shots over his Gorlok teammate, junior Zac Ciesla (Lake Charles, La./Alfred M. Barbe), who fired an even-par 144 for 36 holes.  
 
Hocker opened Monday's play by firing a 3-under 69 in the first round, before carding a 1-over 73 in the second round. Hocker's first round score of 69 was the second lowest single round score in SLIAC Tournament history and the lowest single round score when factoring in par as Webster's Kyler Scott shot a 68 for the Gorloks in 2012 at Forest Park Golf Club in St. Louis, which was a par-70 course.
 
For the day, Hocker, who was named the SLIAC Player and Newcomer of the Year a season ago, had seven birdies, seven bogeys, an eagle on the par-5 No. 11 in the first round and recorded 21 pars on his scorecard. The seven birdies were most among the field of 38 golfers and Hocker also led all golfers on Monday in par-5 scoring as he averaged 4.38 (-5) on Weaver Ridge's four par 5 holes.
 
In addition to Hocker, Ciesla opened by shooting a 1-over par 73 and then carded a 1-under par 71 in the second round to finish at even-par 144 for 36 holes. Ciesla's second round 71 was the lowest score among all golfers in the second round and he led the entire field in par-4 scorings as he averaged 3.80 (-4) on the course's 10 par-4 holes. On the day, Ciesla had a tournament best 28 pars and also recorded four birdies and four bogeys on his scorecard.
 
Along with Webster, Fontbonne and Westminster, the next four teams on the leaderboard are Iowa Wesleyan in fourth with a 670, Blackburn is fifth with a 672, MacMurray is sixth with a 695 and Eureka sits seventh with a 780 total for 36 holes.

Hocker and Ciesla were the only two golfers that shot even par or better through the first two rounds of the event on the 6,828-yard course at Weaver Ridge.
 
In addition to Hocker and Ciesla, the other golfers in the top five after Monday's opening two rounds are Webster sophomore Mitchell Vetter (Colleyville, Texas/Grapevine) in third with a 3-over 147 through 36 holes, Spalding's Kendall Hale, who is fourth after shooting a 9-over par 153 for 36 holes and Webster junior Cole Pickett (Greenville, Ill./Keiser University), who shot an 11-over par 155 to sit in fifth place.
 
Webster's third counter on Monday was Vetter as he fired rounds of 70 and 77 to sit in third place with a 3-over 147 for 36 holes. After the first round, Vetter was in second place with his 2-under 70, but he fell to third after shooting a 5-over 77 in the second round. For the day, Vetter led the way with eight birdies and also had eight bogeys, two double bogeys and 19 pars on his scorecard.
 
The fourth and final counter towards the team on Monday for the Gorloks was Pickett as he shot rounds of 75 and 80 to sit in fifth place with a score of 11-over par 155 for 36 holes. Pickett was in fourth place after shooting a 3-over 75 in the first round, before carding an 8-over 80 in the second round. For the day, Pickett had one birdie, an eagle on the par-5 No. 11 in the first round, eight bogeys, a double bogey and triple bogey on the par-4 No. 6 in the second round and 23 pars on his scorecard.
 
Webster's fifth golfer on Monday was senior Will Murphy (Staunton, Ill./Mount Olive), who shot a 16-over 160 for 36 holes to sit in a tie for 10th place. Murphy opened the day with a 79 in the first round, before carding a second round score of 81. For the day, Murphy had three birdies, 10 bogeys, three double bogeys, a triple bogey 7 on the par-4 No. 6 in the second round and 19 pars on his scorecard.
 
Webster will conclude play in the SLIAC Men's Golf Championships by playing a final 18 holes on Tuesday, April 23 beginning with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. The Gorloks will be paired with Fontbonne and Westminster in the final round.