Golfers in 11th in Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Classic
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The University of Colorado men's golf team, playing a regular season event in the Eastern Time Zone for the first time in 12 years, finds themselves in 11th place after two rounds of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Classic.
Washington owns the team lead heading into Tuesday's final round, as the Huskies are in with a 13-under par 547 score, good for a seven-shot lead over host Notre Dame (554). It's tight among the top five, as Utah (555), Kent State (557) and Michigan State (560) are all in contention.
The Buffaloes were sixth after the morning 18, with a 4-over 284, but ran into some trouble to open round two, playing a middle stretch at 16-over par. CU shaved some strokes off and finished with a 293 for a 17-over 577 score through 36 holes.
Freshman Dylan McDermott topped the CU performances Monday, as he ended the day in eighth place with a 65-72—137 effort on the 7,023-yard, par-70 Warren Golf Course layout. The morning 5-under score, when he had six birdies and a single bogey, was the low round of the day and he led the meet at that point. He finished the day with nine birdies, fourth-most in the field, 22 pars and just five holes worse than par.
Freshman Justin Biwer is tied for 48th after a 73-74—147 scorecard (7-over), while junior John Paterson is tied for 56th (72-76—148) and freshman redshirt Jack Hughes tied for 77th (74-81—155).
Sophomore Adam Matteson is 79th after he had his struggles in the morning, shooting a career-high 18-over 88. But he gathered himself in and fashioned afternoon 71 to finish at 19-over 159. The 17-stroke in-tournament improvement from one round to the next tied for the second-best in school history; John Nyuli set the mark of 18 back in 1990 at the Miami-Doral Invitational, when he had a 90 in the second round and closed with a 72. Two others had 17-shot improvements, Rick Cramer in the 1979 New Mexico Tucker (89 to 72) and Edward McGlasson in the 2002 Prestige at PGA West (87 to 70).
"It was a really strong day for Dylan – he was fully in control all 36 holes, especially in his morning round," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "And Adam had a bear record comeback from his first round. Overall, it was really a battle most of the day everywhere else. We did a nice job of competing and we had a good finish to our second round. We are looking forward to coming out here tomorrow and moving up the board. It's a very strong field and we are looking for a good, strong finish."
Four players are tied for the individual lead at 6-under 134 through two rounds. Fifteen players in all are under par and are within striking distance, including CU's McDermott; seven others are even.
The third and final round is set for Tuesday; the Buffaloes will be paired with Washington State and Georgia Southern and will tee off beginning on No. 10 at 6:20 a.m. MDT.
DU PAINTBRUSH INVITATIONAL: Three Buffs are playing as individuals down the road in Parker in Denver's Paintbrush Invitational, which was suspended due to darkness with a few players needing to complete their second rounds. All three CU players did finish two times around the 7,513-yard, par-72 Colorado Golf Club course, led by junior Kristoffer Max, who is tied for 36th (74-76—150, +6), followed by freshmen Jack Holland (tied for 44th, 74-77—151, +7) and Frederik Eisenbeis (68th, 81-76—157, +13).
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
8. Dylan McDermott.............................. 65-72—137
T48. Justin Biwer..................................... 73-74—147
T56. John Paterson................................... 72-76—148
T77. Jack Hughes..................................... 74-81—155
79. Adam Matteson................................. 88-71—159
DU PAINTBRUSH INDIVIDUALS
T36. Kristoffer Max................................... 74-76—150
T44. Jack Holland..................................... 74-77—151
T68. Frederik Eisenbeis............................. 81-76—157
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
T1. R.J. Manke, Washington..................... 67-67—134
T1. Mac McClear, Iowa............................ 67-67—134
T1. Javier Barcos, Utah........................... 67-67—134
T1. Noah Woolsey, Washington................. 66-68—134
T5. John Gilkison, Kent State................... 70-65—135
T5. Martin Leon, Utah.............................. 67-68—135
TEAM SCORES
1. Washington.............................. 269-278—547
2. Notre Dame............................. 273-281—554
3. Utah........................................ 279-276—555
4. Kent State............................... 284-273—557
5. Michigan State......................... 274-286—560
6. Mississippi State...................... 285-281—566
7. Iowa....................................... 285-282—567
8. Oregon State........................... 282-287—569
8. Rutgers................................... 291-278—569
10. Washington State..................... 285-291—576
11. COLORADO............................. 284-293—577
12. Georgia Southern..................... 291-288—579
13. Boston College......................... 295-294—589
13. Iowa State............................... 292-297—589