Golfers In 11th At ASU Thunderbird Invitational

                PHOENIX — The University of Colorado men's golf team, in its final tune-up ahead of the Pac-12 Championships, are in 11th place after two rounds of the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational, both of which were completed here Friday.
 
                No. 2 Arizona State was the only team to post a pair of subpar rounds Friday and as a result the host Sun Devils own a nine-shot lead after posting a 13-under par 555 team score.   No. 7 Texas is in second (564), while top-ranked Oklahoma State is in third (565), as the Cowboys shot the best single round of the day (a 10-under 274) the second time around the course to jump seven spots up in the standings after opening in 10th.  No. 22 Baylor (566) and No. 38 UCLA (567) round out the top five.
 
                The Buffaloes are in 11th after recording a 12-over score of 580; Colorado was also in 11th place after the morning round with a 9-over 293; Colorado was in the upper third of the standings through the first nine holes, the four designated scorers making the turn at 2-over.  But those same four closed the last three holes at plus-4; in round two, CU did shave six strokes off its morning total and the four scorers played the back nine at 2-under.
 
                Colorado is nine shots back of seventh as it's tightly packed ahead of them in the standings; finishing in the middle of the pack here would bode well for the 76th-ranked Buffaloes, as there are five top 25 and nine top 40 teams competing here.
 
                Junior Daniel O'Loughlin is pacing the Buffaloes here, though just five strokes are separating the five players on the trip.  He is tied for 28th after posting a 73-71—144 scorecard (2-over par) on the 7,333-yard, par-71 Papago Golf Course configuration.  He made his first eagle of the season, coming on the 585-yard, par-5 15th hole in the second rounds; he otherwise had three birdies and 25 pars opposite seven bogeys.  The par-3s at Papago are extremely tough; O'Loughlin played the eight of them even Friday, tied for second-best in the 80-man field (only one player was under par on them, and just minus-1 at that).  He also played the par-5s at 4-under, tied for fifth-best.
 
                Freshman John Paterson recorded a 75-71—146 score (4-over), which has him tied for 45th.  All his overage can be traced to two first round double bogeys, otherwise he had a team-high eight birdies with 18 pars and eight bogeys on his other 34 holes.
 
                Sophomore Trevor Olkowski also carded a 4-over 146 (rounds of 70 and 76), thus is also tied for 45th.  He had two pars and 15 bogeys with just one bogey on his first trip around Papago, CU's only subpar round Friday.  He was 2-over through 16 his second time but finished up bogey-double to end his day.
 
                Freshman Kristoffer Max registered a 75-72—147 (5-over) that has him tied for 50th.  He had four birdies and 25 pars against six bogeys and a triple, the latter coming on his third hole of the event (No. 3); he played the last 33 holes Friday at just 2-over.
 
                Junior Ross Macdonald fashioned a 76-73—149 effort (7-over par), which has him tied for 60th.  He had four birdies and 22 pars against nine bogeys and one double Friday, the latter coming on the par-5 18th to end his first round on a sour note.  But he bounced back to open the second 18 with a birdie on No. 1, also a par-5.  He, too, along with O'Loughlin played the par-3s even.
 
                "Trevor had a really nice first round," head coach Roy Edwards said.  "We played better as a team overall in the afternoon, finishing just as it got dark. Our short game, in general, is improving a bunch.  What held us back some today were our misses were in some tough spots.  It was a really good competitive effort overall which is good."
 
                Arizona State's Chun An Yu holds the individual lead through 36 holes, as he is in with an 9-under total of 133.  That's good for a four-shot lead over Oklahoma State's Matthew Wolf and  Marquette's Oliver Farrell.