Golfers Tied For Fifth In Nevada

    RENO — The University of Colorado men's golf team is tied for fifth in the Nevada Wolfpack Classic, though the second round fell just short of being completed here Monday.
 
        Play was called at 6:40 p.m. Pacific time due to darkness in the western Nevada area.  Eight of the 12 teams were unable to finish their second rounds, though at least three players from each were able to do so and the remaining ones have one or two holes to wrap up.
 
        One of the four teams that did finish was San Francisco, which finished the day with a 24-under par score 552.  San Diego State (22-under) and San Diego (19-under) occupy second and third, while New Mexico is in fourth, six back with an 18-under 558 total.  The Buffaloes are 13-under, with sophomores Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott each having just one hole to complete, and are tied with for fifth with BYU and Nevada-Las Vegas (the Rebels did finish the second 18 and have a 563 score).
 
        Colorado tied with host Nevada after the first round with 2-under 286 scores; the Buffaloes were 11-under par with two players have one hole to finish in round two.  CU's best single round this fall has been 6-under, thus is in position to have its best score since a pair of double-figure under par tallies in last October's Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate.
 
        Three Buffaloes are tied for 15th in the individual standings at 4-under par on the 7,302-yard, par-72 Hidden Valley Country Club course configuration.
 
         Sophomore Tucker Clark fashioned a 73-67—140 scorecard as he had a team-high 11 birdies on the day, which included seven in the afternoon round, a team-best for the most in a round this season; four of those in the second round came in a span of six holes.  The 11 birds were the third-most on day one, otherwise he had 18 pars and seven bogeys in playing the eight par-3s Monday at 2-under, tied for the best in the 72-man field.
 
        Biwer carded a 69 in round one and has the 8th hole in round two to finish up (which he birdied the first time around).  He had CU's only eagle Monday (on the par-5 1st hole), with six birdies and a team-high 25 pars.
 
        Sophomore Dylan McDermott opened with an even-par 72 in the first round (two birdies, 14 pars), and had six birdies and nine pars in the second with just the par-4 9th hole to finish up.
 
        Freshman Hunter Swanson is tied for 29th with a 1-under 72-71—143 effort.  He was steady all day, recording seven birdies and 23 pars with six bogeys.  Starting on No. 7, he bogeyed the par-3 5th hole to keep him from scoring a subpar score in the morning; in the same situation in the afternoon, he birdied it.
 
        Sophomore Jack Holland struggled a little on Monday, firing a 76-74—150 (6-over) that has him in 63rd place.  He had five birdies and 20 pars against 11 bogeys, so he did avoid big numbers on holes.
 
        UNLV's Caden Fioroni holds the individual lead with an 11-under 133 afer rounds of 68 and 65 Monday; that's good for a one-shot edge over USF's Benjamin Partridge, who shot a par of 67's.  Three are tied for third at 8-under 136.  The medalist will earn an exemption to play in the PGA Tour's 2023 Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif.
 
        "Nice afternoon round going," CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  "Tucker had a really good round. Justin has scored well despite not hitting the ball very well. D-Mac came back from a tough break and is playing well.  Hunter was steady all day, which is a great strength if his. Jack had a rough day but drove the ball well and we are confident he will play well tomorrow."
 
        Edwards was referring to a two-stroke penalty assessed McDermott for taking too long to find his ball on the No. 11, his third hole in the first round.  After finding his ball, he went on to birdie the hole but was aware that at end of the day, rules officials could assess the two strokes to give him a bogey.  But he composed himself, birdied No. 12 and had seven more over the remainder of the day.
 
        The second round will resume at 10 a.m. MDT on Tuesday, and then continuous play into the third and final round.  The Buffaloes are paired with BYU, Loyola-Marymount and Fresno State.
 
NOTES: This is CU's first appearance in Nevada's Wolfpack Classic in 40 years and third overall; the Buffs finished 10th in 1982 and third in 1980, when Rick Cramer led the Buffs with a third-place finish (future U.S. Open champion Steve Jones was seventh); both those meets were held in South Lake Tahoe … The players who didn't finish were "only" on the course for 9 hours and 40 minutes; the morning shotgun didn't commence until 9 a.m. (10- and 11-hour days are not unusual if not commonplace) … CU will have eight subpar rounds along with one even out of 14 this fall when round two is complete (barring Biwer or McDermott pulling a Kevin Costner in Tin Cup) … Biwer was CU's Male Athlete of the Week for his third place finish last Tuesday in CU's own Simpson Invitational (he shot a 4-under 206) … The Buffs have lined up against nine of the 11 schools in the meet prior to here, with just first-time action against St. Mary's and UCLA (CU is 3-0 against Pac-12 Conference rivals this fall, and take a 17-stroke edge over the Bruins into Tuesday) … The average score for the 114 completed rounds was a shade over par (72.29) … Colorado is playing the par-3s at 3-over (best in the field), the par-4s at 5-over (sixth) and the par-5s at 14-under (10th) … The Buffs have the sixth-most birdies (37, San Diego leads with 42) and are also sixth with 108 pars (USF tops the list with 115).