After a tough first round Sunday on the difficult Ocean Course, the Seattle University men’s golf team took advantage of the easier Desert Course Monday, improving by 19 strokes as a team and maintaining their seventh place standing after two rounds of the Cabo Del Sol Intercollegiate.
Patrick Sato (Bellevue, Wash.) has been Seattle U’s top golfer over the first two days, following a first-round 74 (+2) with an even-par 72 in the second round to end the day in a tie for fifth place at 146 (+2). David Torres (Armenia, Colombia) also shot even-par 72 in the second round, improving six strokes from an opening-round 78 (+6) to land in a tie for 21st place after 36 holes at 150 (+8).
Ross Kukula (Ocean Park, Wash.) was the third Redhawk golfer to card 72 (even) over the Desert Course, ending the day in a tie for 29th place at 151 (+9) after shooting 79 (+7) Sunday. Luka Karaula (Zapresic, Croatia) struggled to a second-round 79 (+7) after a first-round 78 (+6) for a cumulative score of 157 (+13) to end up in a tie for 49th place. Kyle Cornett (Mill Creek, Wash.) improved greatly from the first round to the second, following an 87 (+15) with a 74 (+2) to land in 55th place with a two-round total of 161 (+17).
As a team, Seattle U shot 309 (+21) in the first round to end Sunday in a tie for seventh place, but a cumulative score of 290 (+2) in the second round allowed the Redhawks to claim seventh place on their own with a 36-hole total of 599 (+23). Shooting 295 (+7) and 284 (-4) for a two-day total of 579 (+3), San Francisco has led after each round so far, currently holding a 13-stroke advantage over UC Irvine and Towson. Jobim Carlos of San Francisco is the only golfer to shoot under par both days, posting scores of 68 (-4) and 70 (-2) to total 138 (-6) and establish a five-stroke lead over Michael Johnson of Weber State.
Seattle University and the rest of the teams will look for better results when they return to the Ocean Course for the third and final round Tuesday, Oct. 8, starting at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time.