MONTROSE, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's golf team was in a tie for second place following the first round, but has emerged to hold a 3-shot lead during the weather-plagued second round of the San Juan Intercollegiate presented by Timberline Bank, which got underway Monday here at the Bridges Golf & Country Club.
The nation's 19th-ranked Mavs posted a solid 13-under par round of 271, the second best round in program history, in the morning and stood at 20-under when the second round was suspended for the second time due to lightning in the area at around 6 p.m. Monday evening.
The second round is now scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday with plans to roll right into the third and final round of the 12-team, 54-hole tournament immediately following that round.
The field of 62 golfers from 12 teams, including three "B" squads, fared well during optimal conditions in the morning lap around the 7,017-yard, par-71 set-up, combining for eight eagles and 251 birdies while making 186 combined bogeys and 61 double bogeys or worse en route to a solid 71.89 full field scoring average.
The Mavs more than did their part to contribute to that overall success as all five members of the Mavs' main squad as well as two others from the "B" team broke par in the opening round.
Reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Golfer of the Week
Dylan Everett, who won last week's Travis Roy Memorial Invitational in Sheridan, Wyoming matched his career-best with a 4-under par score of 67 in the morning round and was tied for third at the time.
He will enter Tuesday's resumption at 5-under and in a tie for sixth place alongside teammates
Leo Lavalle and
Timmy Cavarno.
Everett has completed 12 holes of his second round and must finish the first through sixth holes. Cavarno carded a 1-under par 70 in the morning round and is 4-under through 13 holes of his second round while Lavalle finished with a 69 in the morning and is at 3-under through 12 holes of his second round.
The Mavs' No. 4 player
Luke Wagstaff is also in the top ten of the individual standings, standing just one shot behind his teammates at 4-under par in a 3-way tie for ninth. He matched Everett's 67 in the morning.
Maverick freshman
Henry Starr posted a round of 69 (-2) in the morning and still at that mark with 12 holes completed in his second round. He is tied for 16
th.
Meanwhile,
Baptiste Laborde led the Mavs' "B" squad with a round of 68 in the morning and in tied for 25
th at even par through a dozen holes of his second round. Freshman
Jacob Gonzalez is also a part of the 25
th place tie at even par and carded a 69 in the morning round.
The Maverick "B" squad is in tenth place at +14 heading into Tuesday, seven shots ahead of Westminster's main squad and 27 shots clear of the Fort Lewis "B" team.
Cameron posted a team score of 270 (-14) in the morning round, opening a one shot lead over the Mavs and Western New Mexico through 18 holes. However, the Mavericks have fared four combined shots better than their Aggie counterparts thus far in the second round.
Meanwhile, WNMU has slipped back to sixth place with a +7 second round thus far.
The Colorado School of Mines is now in third place at -10, ten shots behind CMU. The Orediggers finished with a 275 (-9) in the morning and are 1-undr par thus far in the second round.
Lubbock Christian's Hayden Bowman posted an impressive round of 9-undar par 62 in the morning and is currently at -11 through 14 holes of his second round. He holds a 3-shot lead over West Texas A&M's Luis Palomo and Cameron's Rory Gorman, who are both at 8-under.
Everett, Lavalle and Cavarno are just six shots behind Bowman.
