SANTA CRUZ >> Defending champion Filip Jakubcik of University of Arizona and Taiga Kobayashi of Japan’s Nihon University were among the 15 players who shot under par in the opening round of 78th Western Intercollegiate on Monday.

Jakubcik and Kobayashi each shot 5-under-par 65 and share the lead one-third of the way through the 54-hole tournament at heralded Pasatiempo Golf Club, which features 18 newly restored greens.

“Today was great,” Jakubcik said. “The course is in great shape, new greens, it looks amazing. Except that one double on (hole No.) 14, it was perfect today. From top to bottom, I played pretty good. It’s, literally, one drive, that was it.”

Kobayashi, who injured his knee on Sunday, isn’t a fan of the undulating greens, but he found success on them.

“So happy today,” he said, noting that he hopes his knee holds up for two more rounds.

San Diego State University senior Justin Hastings and freshman Harry Takis, Stanford freshman Ratchanon Chantananuwat, and UNLV senior Caden Fioroni and are one shot off the pace after opening at 4 under.

Paced by Hastings, who shot 4-over and missed the cut line by two shots at the Masters last week in Augusta, Georgia, and Takis, the Aztecs jumped to the early lead in the team competition with a 12-under total.

Arizona, defending champion Stanford, and Nihon are tied for third at 5 under. UNLV is 4 under and sits in fifth place.

It’s the final tournament before teams head into conference championships and, for a lucky few, NCAA Regionals.

“We’re trying to get a nice regional, trying to keep it close to home,” Takis said. “Every shot counts. We need to keep the ranking as low as possible. That’s the main goal this week and any personal success is just a bonus.”

Sixth-place Cal looks to improve upon its 1-over total, and tournament host San Jose State has some work to do after firing a 17-over total on one of its home courses. The Spartans are tied with Hawaii for last in the 14-team, nationally televised event.

Competition resumes on Tuesday with morning tee times beginning at 8 a.m. and the afternoon wave starting at 1 p.m.

Hastings has a pair of top-five finishes in his previous three starts at the Western Intercollegiate, including a runner-up finish last season.

“This is my favorite college event of the year,” Hastings said. “Knowing that had I not played the weekend at Augusta I’d be here was almost like a little bit of a win-win situation. I felt like I played pretty freely over there. I’m obviously glad to be here. I’ve had success in the past. This is a lot of fun, having six guys out. You get more teammates out here. Everything about is just a great team experience.”

SDSU’s Chanachon Chokprajakchat was the only player in the top 10 to fire a bogey-free round. He’s tied for seventh at 3 under with UC Irvine’s Rei Harashima and Cal’s Daniel Heo.

Arizona’s Zach Pollo had just four pars in his see-saw, 2-under 68. He’s tied for 10th with UNLV’s Brett Sawaia, Washington’s Finn Koelle, Nihon’s Masato Sumiuchi, and Stanford’s Ethan Gao.

SJSU’s top player was Alaric Mercie, who is playing as an individual. He opened at 1-over 71 and is tied for 34th. The Spartans’ top team scoring players are Ivan Barahona and Zubair Firdaus, who are tied for 43rd at 2 over.

While tremendous shots were being turned in all over the course, none topped one from Chattanooga senior Carson Johnson. He earned his first collegiate ace on the par-3 fifth hole, which Johnson said was playing 205 yards, with a 7-iron.

While driver can be a dangerous club at Pasatiempo, some big hitters in the field had success on the par-5s.

UC Irvine’s Jin Nakao eagled the 567-yard sixth hole.

Eight players eagled the 502-yard ninth hole: Jakubcik, BYU’s Zac Jones and Kevin Wu, Oregon’s Jeffrey Kwak and Gabriel Hari, Nihon’s Riura Matsui, Cal’s Wenliang Xie, and SJSU’s Keshav Mungali.

Jakubcik hit driver, then a 6-iron from 192 yards out to 8 feet from the cup, and made his bending, uphill putt.

“I love the way the course looks, the way it’s set up,” Jakubcik said. “And, obviously, after last year, I’m pretty confident trying to defend my title, trying to play good.”

UNLV’s Fioroni, Cal’s Heo and Nihon’s Sumiuchi were among the six players who eagled the 532-yard 13th hole. The others were SDSU’s Dylan Oyama, Arizona’s Tianyi Xiong, and UNLV’s Ben Sawaia.