An inexperienced team proved not to be a huge problem for the men’s golf team in the first round of its fall season opener.

After a fog delay pushed back the tee times, the men’s golf team finished in a tie for fifth out of 10 teams after the first day of competition in the Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash.

The Gophers shot a 17-over team total of 737 with rounds of 366 and 371, and are locked up with host Washington.

Minnesota trails leader Southern California (5-under 715) by 22 shots at the end of the second round. All teams played two rounds Monday.

After the first round of the shotgun start, the leaderboard showed sophomore Bronson La’Cassie and junior Josh Persons tied for fifth place with a 1-under 71.

La’Cassie and Persons led the Gophers to an early second-place rank, which they took into the second round.

Though the Gophers dropped to a tie for fifth after the second round, familiar faces led them with another pair of solid rounds.

Persons was in a tie for fifth place with a 2-under 142. La’Cassie finished in a tie for seventh with a 1-under 143.

The rest of the team, however, lagged behind.

“I didn’t get the performance out of my upperclassmen that I expected,” coach Brad James said.

Junior Ryan Paulson finished in 39th place with a 10-over 154, and senior Ben Greve brought up the rear in 44th place with a 12-over 156.

“Their performances were unacceptable,” James said.

But James also said the underclassmen, including sophomore Niall Turner, a native of Ireland who had never seen a college tournament before, played better than their scores reflected.

Turner shot a 3-over 147, while redshirt freshman Michael Fiedler shot a 7-over 151.

The underclassmen can help the team move up on the leader board today, as the tournament concludes with its final 18 holes.

The tournament uses a different scoring system than most college meets. Six golfers compete, but only five scores on each team will count for the team total.