Despite foul weather, Bears in fourth place in Houston
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HOUSTON, Texas - Northern Colorado has gotten out of the gate much better in its second tournament of the spring and has worked itself into contention after the first day in the Rice Intercollegiate.
After a cold and windy first day at Westwood Golf Club, the Bears are sitting in a tie for fourth place along with Nebraska and Houston. The team shot a 307 in the morning round, which put them in third place, behind just Rice and Auburn. In the afternoon, the squad continued to battle the elements and posted a second round score of 314.
The Bears were led by junior Nick Bisogno, who shot a 4-over par 76 in the first round, followed by a 2-over par 74 in the afternoon. The Kansas City native put himself into sixth place going into the final round.
"Nick showed some heart on the course today," said Northern Colorado head coach Chuck Scheinost. "He really battled back after a tough triple-bogey early in the second round. Hopefully he can come out tomorrow and contend."
Bisogno was not the only player on the course to suffer through a few big numbers on certain holes. The conditions at Westwood Golf Club made low scores hard to come by as 25 mph winds carried the ball in numerous directions.
"The course was absolutely brutal today," Scheinost said. "Par felt more like it should have been 74 rather than 72, and the scores reflect that. Today was some of the toughest playing conditions I have seen on a golf course.
"There were a couple par-4's out there today that were nearly impossible to get to in two (strokes), and our guys were using 3-woods and drivers to get to a 210-yard par-3."
Steve Bidne shot a 2-over par 74 in the first round and a 10-over par second to put him in a tie for 31st place. Fellow junior Troy Sidabras put together rounds of 78 and 79 in the first day, putting him right behind Bidne.
Senior Rich Lash shot a pair of 7-over par 79s in the first two rounds in Houston and is just one stroke behind Sidabras. Alberto Dell'Anna rounded out the Bears squad, shooting rounds of 84 and 89.
As a team, the Bears shot 621 (+45) in the first two rounds, which puts them 27 strokes behind first-place Rice University, which put together a two-round score of 594 (+18).
At the end of the first day, a pair of Rice golfers, Michael Whitehead and Christopher Brown, along with Auburn golfer, Will McCurdy, are atop the standings after shooting a 147 (+3).
It remains to be seen what the final round will bring Northern Colorado, but Scheinost is optimistic about the Bears' chances in the final round.
"We're coming really close to competing for some of these tournaments," he said. "Hopefully, we can come out tomorrow and beat a few good teams that are ahead of us."