Strong Second Round Puts Mountain Lions in First Place at Cactus Thaw

SILVER CITY, N.M. - A tournament-best 286 in Monday's second round lifted the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs into first place after the first day of the Cactus Thaw Golf Tournament at Silver City Golf Club.

The Mountain Lions shot a two-round score of 581, three strokes better than second-place Fort Lewis and four strokes ahead of Western New Mexico. The third (final) round will be played Tuesday.

The tournament is the third of four that will determine the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion. Through the first two tournaments, UCCS and Fort Lewis are tied with 17 points each while Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State-Pueblo are tied for third with 11 points each.

Not only does the Cactus Thaw have implications toward the RMAC title, it is also a chance for UCCS to gain two more points toward the Steel & Silver Series. UCCS has already wrapped up two points by beating CSU-Pueblo in the first two RMAC qualifiers and can grab all four points for men's golf by besting the Thunderwolves in this tournament.

Mitch Buchner and Chris Shoop led the second-round charge with matching 1-under par 70s. Through the first two rounds, both played Monday, Buchner leads the Mountain Lions at 144 (2-over par). Brian Morfeld is second at 145, followed by Riley Andrews and Shoop (146) and Spencer Biersdorff (152).

Western New Mexico's Patrick Beyhan goes into Tuesday as the individual leader at 139 (3-under par).