Tough first round hinders Men's Golf at Mark Simpson Invite

ERIE, Colo. -- The Northern Colorado men's golf team finished in 15th place Tuesday at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite at the Colorado National Golf Course.

The Bears finished the three-round event with a combined score of 907 (+43), just four strokes behind Utah.

"I thought the first round was a pretty disappointing round," Northern Colorado coach Chuck Scheinost said. "We came out and just couldn't really get anything going. We had a run of poor course management decisions and missed quite a few putts that we usually make."

Individually, the Bears were led by freshmen Steven Kupcho, who finished in a tie for 47th with a three round score of 223 (+7). In the first day, he shot a 3-over par 75 and a 1-over par 73, while shooting another 3-over par 75 in the final round.

Sophomore Jake Hutton also had a strong tournament, as he finished in a tie for 53rd overall. Hutton put together a combined score of 225 (+9). He did a nice job of rebounding from a first round 6-over par 78 by shooting a 1-under par 71 in the second and a 4-over par 76 in the final round.

Another freshmen, Charlie Mroz, finished his tournament tied for 62nd after putting together a combined score of 228 (+12). He got his tournament off to a good start with an even-par 72 to open things up, but shot a 9-over par 81 in the final round.

Colorado, the tournament's host school, took home the team title with a combined score of 840 (-24). New Mexico (-19), Oklahoma (-8), San Diego (-7) and New Mexico State (+3) rounded out the top-five.

San Diego's Alex Ching and Colorado's Beau Schoolcraft took medalist honors, as both golfers put together three round scores of 205 (-11). New Mexico's John Catlin (-9), Colorado's Kevin Kring (-7) and Oklahoma's Abraham Ancer (-7) all finished in the top-five.

Northern Colorado senior Kevin Collignon finished with a 238 (+22), while Ben Krueger shot a 240 (+24).

"I am happy with the way the guys bounced back in the second round," Scheinost said. "We really have to just work on finishing rounds and work on minimizing the mistakes that cost us this tournament.

"There's a lot of work to do, but you can see that there is also a lot of talent on this team."

Next up for the Bears is a trip out to the Air Force Academy to participate in the Falcon Invitational beginning on Sunday, Sept. 18.