Men's Golf holds steady in seventh at America Sky's
By SCOTT WARD
UNCBears.com
NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. -- Northern Colorado Men's Golf got four counting scores under 80 strokes Monday and stayed tied for seventh at the 2012 America Sky Men's Golf Conference Championship.
Steven Kupcho (78, +6), Ben Krueger (76, +4), Kevin Collignon (76) and Steve Connell (78) all helped the Bears to a 308 (+20) team score during the Championship's second round at Lake of Isles Golf Course.
Weber State also carded a 308 and is tied with Northern Colorado with 627 strokes across 36 holes.
Sacramento State (576) expanded its lead in the 12-team field and will bring into tomorrow's final round a 29-stroke lead over second-place Houston Baptist (605). The Hornets also own the top four individual performances so far, highlighted by Cameron Rappleye's 142 (-2).
Kupcho, a freshman, is tied for 20th in his first NCAA Division I postseason tournament. He finished Tuesday's first nine holes just 1-over par, with the only hiccup coming on a bogey on the par-4 No. 8, but his two bogeys and two double-bogeys on the back stretch stalled his strong play.
He took six strokes on No. 18 (one of those doubles), just a day after carding a birdie on the hole yesterday.
Collignon followed a 9-over 81 yesterday with a strong performance Tuesday. He was 6-over out of the gate but 2-under on the back, thanks to a stretch of three consecutive birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14.
Krueger had a pair of birdies, on Nos. 5 and 18, and Connell had three birdies (Nos. 8, 12 and 15) to overcome his 12-over 84 yesterday.
The Championship's final round will begin tomorrow morning at 8:30 ET with four-man groups scheduled to tee off on either holes No. 1 or 10. The top four teams (Sacramento State, Houston Baptist, Hartford and Utah Valley) will tee off at 9:30.
Since opening in 2005, Lake of Isles, a Rees Jones designed course, has consistently been ranked one of the top golf facilities in the country. The 2012 ASMGC Championship is utilizing the par-72, 7,252-yard North Course, which features a rocky, scenic terrain among the southeast hills of Connecticut.
For behind-the-scenes information or other updates on Northern Colorado Men's Golf, follow along on Twitter at @unc_bears and @uncbearsgolf.
