By After a 36-hole day at Palouse Ridge Golf Course in Pullman, Washington the Long Beach State men’s golf team sits in third place (14-under-par) at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate.
Juniors Joe Fryer and Patrick Pockels finished tied for seventh at 5-under-par after the first two rounds.
“I felt today was a great way to start the season,” head coach Michael Wilson said. “Our guys were executing some great shots and played clean rounds.”
Palouse Ridge is the home course for the Washington State Cougars, with a total distance of 7,308 yards. The 68-player field averaged about one stroke (72.19) over the par score of 71.
Fryer hovered in the top-10 all day and made six birdies and one eagle for a combined score of 137. Pockels opened the day with a even-par round of 71 and rallied his way back to a 5-under 66 the second time around the course. The 49ers made 119 pars, Monday which leads the tournament, proving there was plenty of opportunities for a lower score.
“We definitely would have liked to see a few more putts drop and I also think that the guys could tighten up their wedge game a little more,” Wilson said.
Boise State leads the tournament at 22-under par thanks to a team score of 19-under in the second round. LBSU trails tournament host WSU who is 15-under-par. The low round of the day goes to WSU’s Nicklaus Chiam who shot a 9-under 62 in the second round.
“As a team we struck the ball really well, there was just a lot of putts that didn’t go down for us,” Wilson said. “I really wouldn’t be surprised if we have a few more guys near the top of the leaderboard tomorrow.”
Other notable LBSU players include junior Andres Gonzalez and senior Nick Cantlay, who are both tied for 13th at 1-under-par. The third and final round begins Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Live scoring can followed on birdiefire.com or by following @Luuuukersports on Twitter.
