Men’s Golf Climbs Leaderboard After 36 Holes
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The Oregon State men’s golf team moved three spots up the leaderboard at Golfweek’s Conference Challenge by knocking seven strokes off its opening round on Monday.
The Beavers shot a 6-over 294 in the second round after starting the 2014-15 campaign with a 13-over 301 at the par-72, 7,222-yard Spirit Hollow Golf Course to move into seventh place in the 12-team field. Only four strokes separate Oregon State from fourth place with 18 holes remaining at the three-day, 54-hole tournament.
The second round was delayed more than three hours due to rain. The final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. CT (6:30 a.m. PT) on Tuesday with a shotgun start and live scoring is available at golfstat.com.
| 7 | Oregon State | 301 | 294 | 595 |
| T11 | Alex Franklin (5) | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| T15 | Kevin Murphy (4) | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| T31 | Jonas Liebich (2) | 76 | 75 | 151 |
| T35 | Conner Kumpula (1) | 78 | 74 | 152 |
| T42 | Tyler Carlson (3) | 79 | 76 | 155 |
“From the start of the day we played with much more confidence,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “It was nice to see them bounce back after yesterday’s start. That is something we struggled to do in the past. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and watching the guys continue to get better. With not much tournament experience, we need to simply keep focusing on how to get better, and today was a good step.”
Senior Alex Franklin led the Beavers for the second straight day, shooting an even-par 72 that included four birdies, after posting a 1-over 73 in the opening round. Franklin, who qualified for the NCAA Regionals as an individual last season, is tied for 12th place on the individual leaderboard with a 1-over 145.
Sophomore Kevin Murphy fired a 1-over 73 on Tuesday that could have been even better if he didn’t take two double-bogeys in the round. The six birdies in the first two rounds have him in contention for a top-10 finish, as the Rogue River, Ore., native is tied for 15th place with a 3-over 74-73--147.
Freshman Jonas Liebich, who is making his collegiate debut this week, shot a 3-over 75 after opening with a 4-over 76 and moved up nine spots into a tie for 31st place with a 7-over 151. Sophomore Conner Kumpula had the biggest improvement of Oregon State’s golfers, knocking off four shots from his opening round with a 2-over 74 to climb 13 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 35th with an 8-over 152.
“Jonas and Conner had very solid rounds going until the end,” Reehoorn said. “For Conner, he was just unlucky and lost a ball in the rough that we couldn’t find. For Jonas, it is a learning experience. He feels like his game is nowhere near it should be, but he just has to make good decisions and stay in the present when it comes to closing out rounds.”
Stewart Jolly of LSU is running away with medalist honors with an 11-under 67-66--133, which is seven strokes better than his teammate Eric Ricard, who is second with a 4-under 140. Only six golfers in the 60-player field are under par through 36 holes.
