Gonzaga University
Wyoming Cowboy Classic - Day One
Men's Golf in Sixth after First Day in Arizona
4/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- The Gonzaga men's golf team climbed to second place during the first day of the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, before ending the second round in sixth at six-under (570) Monday.
The Zags were five-under (283) in the first round, and one-under (287) in Round 2 on the Cattail Course at the Whirlwind Golf Club. GU is three strokes out of the top-three entering Tuesday's final round.
"We got off to a good start with a solid first round," Gonzaga head coach Robert Gray said. "Other than a few hiccups in the second round, we played well again. While not everyone played well both rounds, we didn't have to take a big score and that made a big difference in our final position. I'm very pleased with how they kept a great attitude and stayed in a competitive mindset today."
The Bulldogs' Nick Nolan is tied for 17th at two-under (142). His 10 birdies in the first two rounds were the third-most in the 89-golfer field. The sophomore was even-par (72) in Round 1, and carded a 70 (-2) in the second round. He was four-under (4.50) on the course's Par-5 holes and one-under (2.88) on Par-3 holes.
"Nick got off to a slow start but did a great job keeping his composure, which enabled him to play his final 29 holes 4-under par," Gray said.
Ben DuBois totaled 26 pars in the first two rounds and is even-par (144) in a tie for 28th. He started both rounds on Hole 7, and was three-under after the first 10 holes in Round 1. The Renton, Wash. native, was two-under (70) in the first round and two-over (74) in Round 2.
"Ben was pretty consistent all day," Gray said. "He hit a lot of greens but wasn't able to get enough inside a makeable range, thus he didn't make a lot of birdies. He's hitting the ball well and he just needs to stay patient. The putts will fall."
Holden Backes and David Ganz are one-over (145) and two-over (146) after the first day. Backes is tied for 34th and Ganz is tied for 42nd. Backes carded a 71 (-1) in the opening round, while Ganz had Gonzaga's lowest round of the day, a 69 (-3) in the second round. Ganz climbed 32 spots on the leaderboard following his second round total.
"Holden played solid in his first showing in the lineup," Gray said. "Opening with a 71, he had another good round going the second round until an unfortunate triple bogey on his 13th hole. He hit a great shot but he flushed it and it sailed a bit long, finding the water hazard. However, he bounced back with a birdie on the next hole.
David got off to a rough start, really struggling on the greens. As he's done all season, he bounced back and posted the best round of the day with a 69."
Tyler Munetake is tied for 70th with a two-round total of 151 (+7). He was two-under (70) in Round 1, before an 81 (+9) in the second round.
"Tyler is also striking the ball well and had a good first round," Gray said. "He had a few holes with some tough breaks, which took its toll on his score in the second round."
Sam Houston State leads the team leaderboard at 19-under (557). The Bearkats were 13-under (275) in the second round and climbed two spots on the leaderboard. Texas-San Antonio is second at 16-under (560).
Three golfers top the individual leaderboard at seven-under (137). McNeese State's Blake Elliott, Sean Meehan of UTSA and Long Beach State's Nick Cantlay all have a two-stroke lead on the rest of the field.
The third and final round tees off with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
