Oregon State
St. Mary's Invitational
Beavers Make A Move At Saint Mary's Invite
September 15, 2015 | Men's Golf
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Chris Tedesco shot a career-best 3-under 68 to help the Oregon State men's golf team climb five spots up the leaderboard into third place after the second round at the Saint Mary's Invitational on Tuesday.
After opening the fall's first event with a 10-over 294 on Monday, the Beavers utilized a total team effort on Tuesday, shooting a 1-over 285 at the par-71, 6,868-yard Poppy Hills Golf Course, to move into third in the 15-team field with an 11-over 579.
San Diego State holds a seven-stroke lead with a 2-under 566 and Saint Mary's is second with a 5-over 573. UC Davis (13-over 581) and Arizona (16-over 584) wrap up the top five and sit just behind the Beavers.
The third and final round of the three-day, 54-ghole tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday with tee times off the first and 10th holes. Live scoring is available at BirdieFire.com.
A senior from Gig Harbor, Wash., Tedesco had five birdies and two bogeys in Tuesday's second round to shoot in red figures for the first time in his collegiate career. He sits in a tie for third place with a 1-under 73-68--141, trailing only Saint Mary's teammates Jonathan De Los Reyes and Pavan Sagoo, who each are a stroke better with a 2-under 140.
Tedesco's best career finish when competing with the team is a tie for 33rd place at last season's Duck Invitational.
“The round by Chris today was what we were missing yesterday,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “To be where he was at 2 under with three to play and finish it off with a birdie on 18 was awesome to see and hopefully even better for his confidence.
“From tee to green he has been playing well and, as he said about his round today, it was a pretty stress-free 68.”
Tedesco's round was a sign of good things on the day for the Beavers, as junior Kevin Murphy fired an even-par 71, sophomore Jonas Liebich carded a 1-over 72 and junior Conner Kumpula and freshman Trevor Yu each shot a 3-over 74.
Murphy is tied for 13th place with a 2-over 73-71--144, Liebich is tied for 22nd with a 4-over 74-72--146, Kumpula is tied for 31st with a 6-over 74-74--148 and Yu is tied for 35th with a 7-over 75-74--149.
“Just as Chris finished off his round, the entire team did in a big way with Jonas leading the way by finishing with birdies on 16, 17 and 18. On the ninth hole, Jonas was frustrated because he felt like he was getting nothing out of the round. I told him to hang in there because he has the ability to string a bunch of birdies together and, sure enough, it happened.
“The key tomorrow will continue to be the same thing -- have patience and play to each of our individual strengths.”
Senior Tyler Carlson, who is competing as an individual, is tied for 56th place with an 11-over 75-78--153.
