Golfers Slip Into Ninth At Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

PALM DESERT, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team couldn't sustain a hot start and eventually struggled to finish the second round in ninth place of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
 
No. 42 Nevada jumped from fourth into first after recording an 8-under team score of 280, the best thus far over two rounds and one of just four under par Thursday.  The Wolfpack is in at 9-under 567 heading into Friday's final round.  First round co-leaders Charlotte and Long Beach State dropped into second and third, respectively, with 569 and 575 scores, with Boise State and New Mexico State tied for fourth (577).
 
The Buffs opened the day in sixth but fell three spots into ninth after a 6-over 294 day.  CU's five designated scorers combined for eight birdies on the first four holes at one point were tied for the lead at 4-under par, but then hit a dry spell, boing birdie-less for the next seven holes. The high-end peaked at 9-over, but several late birdies picked up three strokes.
 
Freshman Justin Biwer continued to pace the Buffalo attack here, as he fashioned a 1-over 73 for a 1-under 143 scorecard, which has him tied for 15th.   He played his first five hole and his last five at 2-under (four birdies total on the day), but in-between had some troubles with a bogey and two doubles, otherwise scored 11 pars on the 7,305-yard, par-72 The Classic Club course layout.  He is seventh in playing the par-5s with a 5-under score among the 113-man field.
 
Junior Kristoffer Max carded an even-par 72 and is tied for 25th with a 1-over 145 score. He had one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars, the latter a team-high for the 2021-22 season.  He opened with a birdie on No. 1 and then ran off 16 straight pars until suffering a bogey on No. 15, then closed with three more pars.  He thus held steady on the tough par-3's here, holding at 2-under on the eight combined through two rounds, tied for second-best in the field.
 
Frosh Jack Holland is with Max in a tie for 25th after he turned in a 1-under par 71 Thursday and also owns a 1-over 145 total through two rounds.  He opened hot, with back-to-back-back birdies on Nos. 2, 3 and 4; he eventually fell back to even on his round until closing with a bird on No. 17 and a par on No. 18.  He was CU's biggest mover on Thursday, jumping 21 spots from 46th.
 
Freshman Dylan McDermott followed an opening round 71 with a 7-over 79, his highest as a collegian in 17 rounds, to stand tied for 65th with a 6-over 150 after 36 holes.  Most of his overage can be traced to just two holes Thursday, a quadruple bogey on the par-5 4th and a double on the par-4 10th holes.  Otherwise, he still managed three birdies, of which he both opened and closed with on Nos. 1 and 18, with nine pars and four bogeys.
 
Freshman Frederik Eisenbeis shot a 6-over 78 for a 36-hole total of 155 (11-over); he is tied for 95th.  He had two birdies and 10 pars opposite four bogeys and two doubles for his second round.  He was 1-under through five, but back-to-back bogeys pushed him over par, where he remained the rest of the day.
 
Three Buffaloes are participating here as individuals; their scores do not count toward CU's team total.  Junior John Paterson is tied for 45th with a 73-75—148 scorecard (4-over), redshirt frosh Jack Hughes is tied for 78th after a 2-over 74, giving him an 8-over 152 total, and sophomore Adam Matteson is in 89th with a 74-80—154 effort.  Paterson recorded 15 pars and three bogeys, while Hughes and a birdie, 14 pars and three bogeys.  Matteson scored two birds with nine pars, but seven over par (seven), but had to deal with seven holes over par (four bogeys and three doubles).
 
"We got off to a really good, promising start, then really struggled through the middle of the round," head coach Roy Edwards said.  "Then we responded with a decent finish.  Kris and Dutchy (Jack Holland) solid all day, and Justin fought hard to get back in it.  It certainly wasn't what we wanted but with high winds expected Friday, we are still in the mix to get back into contention."
 

Nevada's Quim Vidal Mora moved into the lead after firing a 4-under 68, giving him a 6-under 138 score which is good for a one-shot lead over two others.  For the second straight day, just seven players shot in the 60s, and with 18 holes left to play, two dozen golfers remain within six strokes of the top spot.
 
The third and final round is set for Friday with a 9:00 a.m. MST shotgun start.  The Buffs will tee off on the No. 7, 8 and 9 holes and will be paired with Texas State, UT-San Antonio and CSU-Northridge.  Colorado will remain on the road and travel south to San Diego take part in San Diego's Lamkin Invitation on Monday and Tuesday.
 
NOTES: CU is currently ranked 82nd by GolfStat and 83rd by Golfweek … The average score – 74.40 – was slightly better than Wednesday's 74.68; the figure for 126 rounds stands at 74.54 … Colorado is playing the par-3s the third-best in the field (2-under overall), and the par-4s 12th-best at 24-over and the par-5s at 4-under, tied for 11th-best (scorers only) …  Colorado is tied for seventh in birdies with 31 (the leader has just 34), and is tied for ninth with 111 pars … Biwer led the team in stroke average in the fall (70.1) with McDermott (71.2), Hughes (71.7) and Max (71.8) all under 72, the most-ever at CU for the fall portion of a season.
 
BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS (*—competing individually)

 
 TEAM STANDINGS