PARAMUS, N.J. -- Christopher Newport senior Alex Price (+2) was among the first three golfers to tee off at the 122nd U.S. Amateur on Monday morning, embarking on his first round at 7:00 a.m. at the Arcola Country Club in Paramus, N.J. Price finished his opening round with a two-over 72 on the Par 70 track and is currently just five strokes behind a five-way tie for the lead at -3. 

The schedule of play includes two rounds of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday played at Arcola and at The Ridgewood Country Club, where Price will play in the second round tomorrow. Following the first two rounds, the field of 312 golfers will be trimmed to the top 64 for a match-play tournament at Ridgewood CC from August 17-21. Competitors are vying for a gold medal, custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for one year, and exemptions into some of golf's most prestigious events. 

The Captains' veteran fired a two-over 72 with matching 36's on the front and back nine Monday. He sank four birdies and settled into the top-25 for the bulk of his opening round before a pair of bogeys in the final four holes. The Hillsboro, Va. native is tied for 52nd after the first 18 holes of play are complete for the 300+ player field. 

Price birdied two of his first five holes to quickly start at -2 with birdies on the 403-yard Par 4 fourth and 427-yard Par 4 fifth holes. He then tacked on birdies on the 632-yard Par 5 12th and 161-yard Par 3 14th holes on the back. 

In Monday's opening round, Price was paired with Austin Devereux (+7), an All-Region performer from Rider University, and Benjamin Feld (+4), head men's golf coach at Drexel University. The trio will return to action at 12:15 p.m. in Tuesday's second round. 

For complete live scoring of all the action, click here.