Paul Leads, Buffs In Sixth At Alister Mackenzie

               FAIRFAX, Calif. — The University of Colorado men’s golf team opened strong here Monday with four scores in the 60s and finds itself in sixth place after two rounds of the 12th Annual Alister Mackenzie Invitational.

               Arizona State, No. 53 in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin computer rankings, leads a six-team logjam within 10 strokes of each other heading into Tuesday’s final round.  The Sun Devils are in with a team score of 549, or 19-under par, which leads No. 21 California by two shots (551).  No. 51 Oregon State in third (552), with No. 30 San Diego State (557) and UC Davis (558) rounding out the top five.

               Colorado, ranked No. 29 nationally, is at the back end of that jam, in with a 9-under 559 total; the Buffs were seventh after the morning round and inched up a spot the second time around the course.

               Hosted by Cal, the Golden Bears have claimed their own meet eight times in the 11 previous events, including the last five in a row.  Colorado has become a regular participant in the prestigious tournament, playing for the sixth straight year; the Buffs tied for sixth last fall and own a top finish of third in 2009.

               Sophomore Yannik Paul led the CU charge Monday, turning in a first day scorecard of 66-67—133 (9-under par) on the 6,734-yard, par-71 Meadow Club course design to lead the 80-man field.  Matching his collegiate career best score in the first round, he was in the groove most of the day: he scored two eagles with eight birdies and 23 pars while only scoring three bogeys; he takes a one-shot lead over two others into the final round.

               His older identical twin, Jeremy, put a 69-70—139 effort into the books (3-under), to stand in a tie for 12th.  He had a steady day as well, with a team-high 11 birdies to go with 17 pars against eight bogeys.

               Senior David Oraee, fresh off his medalist honors in CU’s Mark Simpson Invitational, is tied for 30th with an even-par 142 total after rounds of 68 and 74.  He had eight birdies and 20 pars to counter eight bogeys.   

               Junior Philip Juel-Berg is tied for 49th after posting rounds of 74-71 for a 3-over 145 score.  He had an eagle, four birdies and matched Yannik Paul’s team-best 23 pars Monday, while scoring seven bogeys and a double.    

              Sophomore Ethan Freeman rounded out the CU contingent, as he fashioned a 76-78—154 (12-over) effort, which has him mired at the moment in 78th place.    

              “It’s still anybody’s tournament,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  “The first round we had calm conditions, but it started getting windy at the start of the second round, so it was a lot tougher in the afternoon.  The message to the team was that if we can play a good round tomorrow, we still have a chance to win.  Obviously Yannik is in a great position. 

               “He (Yannik) hit the ball really well, and other than a couple of mistakes, he putted well,” Edwards said.  “He might have missed only two shots all day, he had a great mindset.  When he did make a mistake, he moved right on to the next shot.”

               As a team, the Buffaloes led the field in par-5 scoring, collectively playing them at 20-under par, with its three eagles second-most and 37 birdies tied for fifth.  Individually, Yannik Paul played the par-5s at 7-under to lead the field; he played the par-4s even and was 2-under on the par-3s, which is second-best.

               Arizona State’s Max Rottluff and Cal’s Sebastian Crampton are right on Yannik Paul’s heels, one shot back with identical 68-66—134 efforts, though there are 18 players within six shots of the lead.

               The third and final round will commence Tuesday morning with a 9:15 a.m. MDT shotgun start.