Northern Colorado battles conditions and injuries, sits in 15th at Cougar Classic
RELATED CLICKS:
PING Cougar Classic Stats Day 1
PROVO, Utah – In its last tune-up before the America Sky Conference Championship, the Northern Colorado men’s golf team finished the first day at the PING Cougar Classic in 15th place after shooting a two-round score of 600 (+24).
In what seems to be turning into a pattern, the Bears’ ran into some less-than-ideal conditions out at the Riverside Country Club, with cold temperatures and rain bothering the players through much of the morning.
“Today was a rough day for us,” said Northern Colorado head coach Chuck Scheinost. “With the rain in the morning and the wind picking up in the afternoon, it definitely didn’t help us get out to a great start.”
Indeed, the Bears got off to a slow start in its first round of the event, but finished the round strong by shooting under par as a team on the back-nine to end up with an opening-round 297 (+9).
To finish off the afternoon, Northern Colorado put together a 303 (+15) while battling blustering winds. The squad was also hampered by the absence of Troy Sidabras, who was forced to withdraw from the event after sustaining an injury during the morning round.
“Although we got off a rough start this morning, I was really proud with how the guys battled back,” Scheinost said. “What hurt us today was the fact that Troy couldn’t be out there.”
Individually, the Bears were led by Stephen Bidne, who sits in a tie for 14th after posting a two-round score of 144 (+0). He opened the event by shooting a 1-under par 71 and followed that up with a 1-over par 73.
Nick Bisogno and Rich Lash both finished their afternoons with two-round scores of 149 (+5), putting them in a tie for 45th. Jon Peterson, playing his first event with the Bears, put together a score of 158 (+14), good enough for 85th.
In-state rival, Colorado State, sits atop the leaderboard after posting a two-round score of 569 (-7). Augusta State’s Patrick Reed (-9) is currently the individual leader after the first day.
“The good news is that we played well in terms of coming back after two rough starts,” said Scheinost. “We started to make some birdies on the back-nine for the first time in a while.”
The Bears will look to put together a strong final round tomorrow to help build some momentum before the America Sky Championship kicks off next week.
