Courtesy of Washington Huskies
BREMERTON, Wash. -- The Washington men’s golf team owns a nine-stroke lead after the first 36 holes of play at its Opus NW Husky Invitational. Washington turned in rounds of 365 and 366 to complete the first-day of play at 11-over 731 at Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course. The tournament features six-man teams with the top five scores counting toward the team total.
The Huskies were led by senior All-American Brock Mackenzie, who carded back-to-back rounds of 70 to finsh at 4-under 140. Trailing him by one shot on the leaderboard is Oregon State’s Brad Simpson, who turned in rounds of 70 and 71. UCLA’s John Merrick and California’s Scott Carlyle are tied for third at 1-under 143.
Oregon State trails the Huskies at 740 followed by BYU at 744 and San Diego State at 745. UCLA, ranked third in the nation, and California, ranked fourth, are tied for fifth at 747, 16 strokes behind the Huskies.
‘We played well, but we could have played better,’ said Husky coach Matt Thurmond. ‘But, I think that is they way most of the teams felt today. We expected a pleasant day and instead it was overcast and the winds picked up in the afternoon. Our plan is to go out and be aggressive Tuesday. There are obviously some very talented teams in this field and a nine-stoke lead does not really mean that much, especially with this scoring format.’
Mackenzie is playing in his first match for Washington after missing the Topy Cup while competing for the United States Walker Cup Team in England.
‘I was really impressed by his overall game today,’ Thurmond said. ‘He was really solid and took advantage of the opportunities to score. I think this is the beginning of a great senior season for Brock.’
Washington’s Erik Olson shot 146 to tie for 10th while senior Dan Potter is tied for 13th at 147. Freshman Alex Prugh is 20th at 149, Cody Upham is 48th at 156 and Corey Purgh is 55th at 160.
BYU held the tournament lead after the fist round with a 4-over 364 thanks to Oscar Alvarez’s 69 that included a 32 on the back nine. He shared the first round lead with Carlyle.
The third round of the tournament starts at 7:30 AM at Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course. Washington and Oregon State will tee off at 9:06 AM.
2003 Opus NW Husky Invitational
Gold Mountain-Olympic Course
Par 72, 7,059 yards
Bremerton, WA
Team Standings Through Two Rounds
1 Washington, U. of 365 366 731 +11
2 Oregon State U. 373 367 740 +20
3 Brigham Young Univ. 364 380 744 +24
4 San Diego State U. 372 373 745 +25
5 California, U. of 367 380 747 +27
UCLA 371 376 747 +27
7 Washington State U. 376 374 750 +30
8 Oregon, U. of 382 371 753 +33
9 Fresno State Univ. 383 375 758 +38
Tohoku Fukushi 381 377 758 +38
