(Pacific Coast Golf Association)

Raber, the 170th player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and 2012 Trans-Mississippi champion, narrowly missed tying the competitive course record set in 2003 by a single stroke, posting a blazing seven-under-par 63 on the difficult Stanley Thompson design in perfect golfing conditions.

Raber, a recent UC-Davis graduate, started off his round steady, posting birdies on the 3rd, 7th and 8th holes to make the turn at three-under-par 33 before igniting for five birdies and a lone bogey on his inward half. His 18-hole line of 33-30 was good enough for a -7 total, leaving him three strokes ahead of his native Californian Mac McClung of Fremont.

McClung, a recent graduate of St Mary's College and a two-time WCC 1st Team All-Conference athlete (2012,2013), posted a bogey-free round of four-under-par 66. His front half featured back-to-back birdies on holes three and four and again on holes six and seven to get him through the turn at an impressive four-under-par 32. McClung would make nothing but pars on his way in, allowing himself to sit comfortably in second place heading into the second round of the championship.

Sitting in a tie for third place after opening rounds of two-under-par 68 are U.S. Amateur Public Links semi-finalist Eric Sugimoto of San Diego as well as a triad of fellow Californians including Foster City's Dalan Refioglu, Redding's Joshua Baskins, and Santa Cruz's Cory McElyea. Joining them in that group is Billings, Mont. resident Brandon McIver. All five players are well within reach of the lead with 54 holes left to the play in the 72-hole premier competition.

Seven other players sit under par at one-under including 2012 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship standout Lorens Chan of Honolulu, Hawaii and local favorite and Capilano Golf and Country Club member Kevin Spooner of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

David Fink of Corvallis, Ore., the defending champion from the 2012 Pacific Coast Amateur, sits at level par after an opening round 70 and has his sights set on Raber in his quest to defend his crown. Joining Fink at even par after today's round is pre-tournament favorite and University of Washington Husky standout Trevor Simsby of Seattle, Washington

Leading the way in the two-day Morse Cup team competition are the contingents from the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and the Northern California Golf Association. Both teams sit at a cumulative score of 141, +1 heading into tomorrow's final round of the 36-hole Association competition.

The defending champion PNGA team is represented by Bainbridge Island, Washington's Carl Jonson, Fink and Matt Rawitzer of Bellingham, Washington with scores of 71 and 70 counting for Rowitzer and Fink, respectively.

Setting the early pace for the contingent for the Northern California Golf Association was Berkeley, California's Pace Johnson, McElyea and Nick Moore of Seaside, Calif. Johnson's 73 coupled with McElyea's 68 were good enough to get in a deadlock with the PNGA.

Second round action is set to begin tomorrow at 7:30am off the first tee at the Capilano Golf and Country Club. Live scoring can be found at www.pacificcoastamateur.com throughout the day. Final round action is slated to begin on Friday July 26th at 7:30 with not cut following tomorrow's play.