Huskies Stay Hot, Lead At OSU Invitational

CORVALLIS, Ore. --  The Husky men's golf team continued its stellar string of play and were atop the leaderboard at the Oregon State Invitational in both the team and individual standings before darkness halted play at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore., on Monday.
 
The team and RJ Manke were first after the morning round of play, a position where both remained when sunset forced Manke into the clubhouse after 15 holes of second-round action.
 
The Huskies are coming off a win at the Fighting Irish Classic and are in position to earn a second-consecutive win. They shot an 8-under 276 in the first round to build a three-stroke advantage and increased their lead to five shots over Boise State before play was halted. Washington was 8-under for the round and -16 overall. Boise State is -11, but like Washington will have to finish their second round Tuesday morning.
 
Manke, fresh off an individual win at the Fighting Irish Classic, showed very little signs of slowing down. He was bogey-free and 3-under through 15 holes in the second round, but the day was not without its struggles.
 
Manke found himself in an unfamiliar position for the first time in five Husky fall tournaments when he came out of the gates and dug himself into an early hole. After six holes he sat at 2-over but would jump-start his day with a birdie on No. 7. He would go on to add an eagle, four birdies and just one bogey on the back-nine to finish the morning with a 4-under 67.
 
The fifth-year senior from Lakewood, Wash., is -7 overall, one shot ahead of Boise State's Hugo Townsend and two shots better than the Broncos' Skyler Eubank.
 
While Manke is leading the tournament, he is not the only Husky playing lights out. The leaderboard includes seven different UW golfers in the top-12.
 
"It was an excellent performance from the guys today both individually and collectively," Husky coach Alan Murray said. "We have to finish round two as darkness halted play, but the guys have really done a great job."
 
Petr Hruby continues his strong play and is tied for fourth with eight other golfers at -2. He shot an opening round even-par 71 and was 2-under in the afternoon through 15 holes. He amassed nine birdies during his first 33 holes.
 
Noah Woolsey, Taehoon Song, Teddy Lin, Drew Warford and Aidan O'Hagan were all -1 when darkness hit and are tied for 12th. Warford (75-66-141) and O'Hagan (71-70-141) are both competing as individuals and finished their rounds. Warford shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 in the afternoon.
 
Robert Galligan and Justin Hopkins are both competing as individuals and are tied for 53rd entering the final round.
 
"We need to make sure we finish off strong in round two and then get back at it in round three," Murray said. "There is still a long ways to go, but we have put ourselves in a decent position."