Men?s Golf Rallies In Opening Round
PALM DESERT, Calif. – The Oregon State men’s golf team rallied from an early hole to sit in a tie for fifth place in the 24-team field after the opening round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on Friday.
The Beavers started on the 10th hole and were 5 over through nine before firing a 4 under after the turn to post a 1-over 289 at the par-72, 7,305-yard Classic Club. Texas Tech holds a four-stroke lead after shooting a 7-under 281.
The second round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament begins at 7 a.m. PT on Saturday. The Beavers will start on the 10th hole at 8:50 a.m. and live scoring is available on golfstat.com.
“As a team we got off to a slow start but did a nice job of keeping in the round mentally and playing well on the back nine,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “We’ve got some things to clean up, especially on the par-5’s, and if we can take care of the small things, we are close to putting together a very good round.”
| T5 | Oregon State | 289 | 289 |
| T6 | Kevin Murphy (1) | 70 | 70 |
| T25 | Alex Franklin (4) | 72 | 72 |
| T37 | Brian Jung (2) | 73 | 73 |
| T50 | Tyler Carlson (5) | 74 | 74 |
| T73 | Conner Kumpula (3) | 76 | 76 |
Sophomore Kevin Murphy continued his hot play by carding a team-best 2-under 70, but like the rest of his teammates, he had to earn it. The Rogue River, Ore., native was 2 over through three holes but had four birdies and 11 pars the rest of the way for a solid opening round that put him in a tie for sixth place.
“Kevin is playing with a strong belief in himself and what he is doing right now,” Reehoorn said. “After a slow start it was great to see him hang in there and play the back nine in 3 under. It’s just a matter of time before he shoots a really low round.”
Senior Alex Franklin had a clean first round with one birdie, 16 pars and one bogey to finish with an even-par 72, and junior Brian Jung was a stroke back with a 1-over 73 that included four birdies, three bogeys and a double. Junior Tyler Carlson made up the Beavers’ team score with a 2-over 74 after a 1-over 37 on each side.
Only 25 of the 128 players finished in red figures, led by Zach Smith of UC Santa Barbara who dropped a 5-under 67 to give him a two-stroke advantage over six golfers.
