Kumpula Leads Beavers On Day Two In Hawai?i
WAIKOLOA, Hawai’i – Sophomore Conner Kumpula shot an even-par 72 to lead the Oregon State men’s golf team in the second round of the 24th Annual Amer Ari Invitational on Friday.
A day after four Beaver golfers were in red figures, the group of five was unable to get the putter going, as Oregon State fell to 14th place in the 18-team field with a 3-under 280-293--573 at the par-72, 7,074-yard Waikoloa Kings’ Course.
“The course was playing about as easy as it can get and when we didn’t make putts early, it affected the way we played too much,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “We need to do a better job of being in total control of our emotions on each and every shot.
“To finish the round yesterday we got a bit lazy and gave away a few shots to end, and today as we entered the easy holes, I think the guys assumed we would make birdies instead of focusing on what needed to be done.”
| 14 | Oregon State | 280 | 293 | 573 |
| T39 | Kevin Murphy (1) | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T48 | Conner Kumpula (3) | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| T53 | Alex Franklin (4) | 70 | 74 | 144 |
| T66 | Brian Jung (2) | 70 | 76 | 146 |
| T71 | Chris Tedesco (5) | 73 | 74 | 147 |
The final round of the three-day, 54-hole tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. Hawai’i time (9:30 a.m. PT) on Saturday and live scoring is available at golfstat.com.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” Reehoorn said. “We have to respond in a positive way and be ready to play. The guys are playing well. It simply comes down to a belief in their abilities to hit the shot required.”
Kumpula started on the fifth hole and was 2 over through nine holes before dropping birdies on the par-4 17th and par-3 third holes to finish with a 72. He shot a 1-under 71 on the opening day and
Sophomore Kevin Murphy is the highest Beaver on the leaderboard, sitting in a tie for 39th place with a 2-under 69-73--142, while senior Alex Franklin is tied for 53rd with an even-par 70-74--144, junior Brian Jung is tied for 66th with a 2-over 70-76--146 and junior Chris Tedesco is tied for 71st with a 3-over 73-74--177.
Franklin led the Beavers with three birdies in the second round, while Kumpulan and Tedesco each had two.
Washington (30-under 546) has the team lead over USC (27-under 549) and Auburn (22-under 554) heading into the final round and the Huskies’ Cheng-Tsung Pan has a two-stroke advantage over Rico Hoey of USC for medalist honors.
