Thanks to consistent play from the majority of the travel squad, the Seattle University men’s golf team finished the first day of the OGIO Utah Invitational in second place, just four strokes behind leader Santa Clara, after Monday’s 36 holes at The Jeremy Golf and Country Club.
Freshman Joe Harvie (Orting, Wash.) continues to lead the Redhawks, shooting one-under-par 70 in each round Monday to end the day in a tie for second place at 140 (-2), three strokes behind Southern Utah’s Nic Booth. Harvie birdied three holes on the course’s back nine in the morning round, and then birdied three straight holes in the afternoon circuit as he finished with seven birdies and just five bogeys.
Patrick Sato (Bellevue, Wash.) collected five birdies in the first round as he shot even-par 71, and then he recovered from a triple bogey on the 18th hole, birding two of his final seven holes to post a second round score of 73 (+2), finishing the day in a tie for 12th place at 144 (+2). Kyle Cornett (Mill Creek, Wash.) shot a steady two-over-par 73 in the morning, followed by four birdies in the second round as he shot 72 (+1) for a two-round total of 145 (+3), ending up in a tie for 16th place.
Shane Wathanasaynee (Los Alamitos, Calif.) shot 74 (+3) in the morning round before collecting five birdies during his afternoon round of 73 (+2), finishing the day in a tie for 29th place at 147 (+5). Ahren Young (Renton, Wash.) played well in the morning, shooting 72 (+1) before posting a second round score of 78 (+7) to end the day in a tie for 49th place at 150 (+8). Ross Kukula’s (Ocean Park, Wash.) day was the reverse of Young’s, as he improved from a first-round 78 (+7) to a second-round 73 (+2) for a 36-hole total of 151 (+9), currently tied for 51st place.
With the top five scores counting out of six players, Seattle U combined for scores of 360 (+5) in the first round and 361 (+6) in the second round for a two-round score of 721 (+11), staying in second place throughout the day. Santa Clara followed a first-round 361 with a second-round 356, the lowest single-round score of any team in either round, to take a four-stroke lead over the Redhawks. Booth was the only player to post two sub-70 rounds to take the individual lead at 137 (-5).
The third and final round of the tournament will begin with a shotgun start Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time), with Seattle U golfers teeing off from the first four holes on the course.