UCCS Golfers Slip to 10th Place After Disappointing Second Round

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- A disappointing score of 300 in the second round dropped the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs all the way from second place to 10th as the first day of the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational wrapped up Monday at Palm Valley Golf Club.

The Mountain Lions shot a 289 in the first round, also played Monday, which had them tied with Point Loma Nazarene for second place, eight strokes behind red-hot Central Oklahoma. The wheels came off in the second round, though, allowing six teams to catch and pass UCCS.

The Mountain Lions go into Tuesday's final round at 13-over par and just four strokes out of sixth place.

Central Oklahoma, which is ranked No. 15 in NCAA Division II, leads at 12-under par. Wayland Baptist, ranked No. 11 in NAIA Division I, is second at 8-under par. Western Washington (NCAA D-(II No. 8) and host Grand Canyon (NCAA D-II No. 27) are tied for third at even par, while Point Loma Nazarene (NAIA D-I No. 2) is fifth at 5-over par.

Tyler Bishop shot a 1-under par 71 in the second round to lead the Mountain Lions with a two-round score of 147. Todd Napikowski and Eric Winder each shot 147, while David Cosel came in at 150 and Brian Morfeld scored a 154.

Central Oklahoma had four golfers among the top eight individuals, while Wayland Baptist boasted overall leader Jeff Dagg, who shot an 8-under par 136.

UCCS leads Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals Fort Lewis, Nebraska-Kearney and Colorado State-Pueblo by eight, 14 and 33 strokes respectively. The CSU-Pueblo result has the added importance of being worth a point in the Steel and Silver rivalry series between the schools. UCCS currently leads the series 12-8.