MADISON, Miss (4/27/26) – Jake Wallis turned in a 4-under par 68 to lead the field while the Arkansas State men's golf team stands second following the first round of the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Championship at Annandale Golf Club.

With his 4-under par 68, Wallis leads Benjamin Fernandez of Southern Miss and Sakke Slitala of Texas State by one stroke. A total of 15 players, including three Red Wolves' finished the opening round under par. Wallis capped his round with birdies on the par-4 16th and par-4 17th holes and rolled in an eagle on the last, his seventh eagle this season.

Thomas Schmidt is among six players tied for fourth at 2-under par 70. Schmidt had a clean scorecard rolling in birdies on the par-5 fifth and par-5 18th while earning par over the remaining 16 holes. Cole Kirby gives A-State three players inside the top 10 after a 1-under par 71 ties him with five others for 10th. After bogeys on the second and third holes, Kirby regrouped with a birdie on the fifth and dropped consecutive birdies on No. 12 and No. 13. After a bogey on No. 14, Kirby got to 1-under with a birdie on the last. Milan Reed (+3) is tied for 37th and Jake Lile (+5) is tied for 52nd to round out the Red Wolves in the field.

A-State extended its single-season program record to 22 rounds of par or better with the 4-under par 284. Coastal Carolina (-6) leads the field and was the only other team under par Monday. Southern Miss (E), South Alabama (+1), James Madison (+2), Troy (+6), App State (+6), Texas State (+9), Georgia Southern (+9) and Louisiana (+10) complete the top 10.

The second round gets underway at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. Live coverage is available on ESPN+ and Scoreboard.

2026 Sun Belt Conference Championship
First Round Results
2 Arkansas State 284 (-4)
1 Jake Wallis 68 (-4)
t4 Thomas Schmidt 70 (-2)
t10 Cole Kirby 71 (-1)
t37 Milan Reed 75 (+3)
t52 Jake Lile 77 (+5)