HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The No. 10 Railsplitters could not have asked for a much better start to the 2019 NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional, firing a three-under par 285 to establish a three-shot lead over the rest of the field on Thursday at Mission Inn Resort & Club. 
 
With the second-lowest regional round in program history behind only last season's final-round 284, Lincoln Memorial put itself squarely in the driver's seat to lock down a return trip to the national championship. The top-seven finishers from the South/Southeast Regional, which concludes on Saturday, will advance to the national championship site May 20-24 in Daniels, W.V. 
 
The Railsplitters' 285 is three shots clear of defending national champions Lynn and West Florida, who are tied in second place and ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the Golfstat national rankings. Clayton State is a distant fourth place with a nine-over par 297, while Columbus State is fifth at 10-over par. Barry (+11) and Limestone (+12) are currently holding the final two qualifying spots in sixth and seventh, respectively. Four other teams are within six shots of that seventh-place spot. 
 
Lincoln Memorial's opening round was powered by its two Division II Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year semifinalists, Sam Broadhurst and Dan Bradbury, who are both tied for first place following three-under par 69s. 
 
Broadhurst opened his day with a bogey on the par-five first hole, but followed that up with 13 pars and four birdies to card his 69. Bradbury, meanwhile, got off to a tremendous start with an eagle on the opening hole and a birdie on the second hole. After that, he had pars on every other hole aside from a bogey at No. 10 and a birdie at No. 17. 
 
Harry Boyle turned in a one-over par 73, Luke Harries fired a two-over par 74 and Hamish McColm rounded things out with a four-over par 76.
 
Boyle started slow with a double bogey on the third hole and another bogey on the fifth, but finished two-under par total over the final 13 holes, a stretch highlighted by back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14. Harries caught fire on the back nine as well, rebounding from a 38 on the front nine with a one-under par 36 on the backside. McColm, meanwhile, dropped in a pair of birdies during his 76. 
 
After one round, all five LMU players are in the top-40 of the 108-player field. Along with Broadhurst and Bradbury in a tie for first, Boyle is tied for 13th, Harries is tied for 20th and McColm is tied for 38th place. 
 
The Railsplitters will be one of the first teams to tee off in the second round of the South/Southeast Regional, getting underway at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. Results and live stats are available here.