LAKEWOOD, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's golf team held on to a strong second place finish and defeated three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and four NCAA Division II South Central Regional foes in their season-opener, finishing The Writz at Mile High with a 54-hole team score of 887 (+23).
The Mavericks recorded a team score of 304 (+16) in Tuesday' third and final round but had enough of a cushion to finish four shots better than Valdosta State en route to the runner-up finish in the 7-team field that included five RMAC squads and six from the region.
Only reigning NCAA Division II Champion Colorado Christian finished higher than the Mavericks. The Cougars won the title by 57 shots with a team score of 830, 34 shots under par, sweeping the top three spots in the individual standings while placing five in the top seven.
The Colorado of School of Mines finished fourth at 896 (+32) while national preseason poll No. 20 CSU Pueblo took fifth at 900 (+36). UT Permian Basin (933, +69) and South Dakota Mines (961, +97) were further back.
CMU's
Cole Beyer took fifth in the individual standings at -3 (213), after posting a 77 (+5) in Tuesday's round.
Timmy Cavarno also placed in the top 10, finishing at +6 (222) for the tournament after posting a round of 75 on Tuesday.
Sophomore
Baptiste Laborde led the Mavericks on Tuesday, carding a 1-over par 73, allowing him to move up six spots into a 19
th place finish at +12 (228).
Leo Lavalle and
Dylan Everett tied for 26
th at +16 (232). Lavalle carded a 79 (+7) on Tuesday while Everett scored an 81 (+9) on Tuesday.
Three other Mavericks placed as individuals in the season-opening tournament that included 47 players.
Dakota Gillman took 29
th at +17 (233) and had his best round of the tournament on Tuesday, carding a 76 (+4).
Luke Wagstaff finished 40
th at +28 (244) while
Zack Moreau finished 45
th at +42 (258) in his collegiate debut.
The Mavericks will now return home more than two weeks before returning to competitive play at the Bishop Invitational in Dupont, Washington on Sept. 26-27, the first of back-to-back tournaments in the Evergreen State.
