AMARILLO, Texas— The Colorado Mesa University men's golf team bounced back from a difficult morning round to post a 2-under par score of 282 in the afternoon and stands in a tenth place tie after 36 holes of the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invite, which got underway on Monday here at the Amarillo Country Club.
Playing without two of their normal five starters due to injury, the Mavericks stand at 576 (+8) heading into the third and final lap around the 6,937-yard, par-71 course on Tuesday.
The Mavs managed a team score of 294 in the Monday's morning round and were in a tie for 12
th place but posted the fourth best score of the afternoon to move back towards the middle of the 15-team field.
Three different Mavericks, including freshman
Cruz Carter, who is playing as an individual, broke par in the second round. The freshman rolled in eight birdies during the afternoon and posted a season-best round of 65 following up his morning effort of 74 (+3) and is in a tie for 12
th place of the individual standings at 139 (-3).
Meanwhile, freshman
Colby Hutton posted a 68 in the afternoon and is tied for 28
th with sophomore teammate
Henry Starr and three others at even par 142. Hutton made five birdies and an eagle-3 on the 18
th hole early in his afternoon round, that he started on Hole No. 11. He had also made two birdies in his first round effort of 74.
Starr also made eight birdies throughout the day, posting round of 73 and 69.
Will Alexander is tied for 36
th at 144 (+2) and led the Mavs with a first round score of even par 71 before posting a 73 in the afternoon.
Jacob Gonzalez is tied for 66th place at 150 (+8) had rounds of 78 and 72 while
Luke Wagstaff is in a tie for 77
th at 153 (+11) after recording scores of 76 and 77.
Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College holds an 8-shot team lead at -17 (551) over Midwestern State and Oklahoma Christian, who are tied for second. Oklahoma Christian led by nine shots after an impressive morning score of 270 (-14) but posted a 5-over par team score of 289 in the afternoon to slip back.
UT Tyler's Braden Stokes holds the individual lead at -7 (135) by a single shot over David Vega Gerstel of the host West Texas A&M squad.
Tuesday's final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. CDT (7:30 a.m. Mountain). CMU's players will begin on Hole No. 10 and play alongside UT Tyler and Texas A&M International based on Monday's results.
