SEASIDE, Calif. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs sophomore
Colin Prater turned in a team season-best 66 and jumped 27 spots as the Mountain Lions shot 3-over-par as a team in the third round to finish ninth at the Otter Invitational at Black Horse Golf Club. Prater tied for fourth with a tournament score of 214 for 2-under-par.
Prater's score was the best round for a Mountain Lion this season and the best since
Dylan Mitchell hit a 7-under-par 65 in the second round of the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational on Sept. 15, 2014. It was the best score in today's round and tied for the best performance in the tournament with Chico State's Colby Dean from the second round.
Prater recorded an eagle on hole 18 and recorded birdies on five more holes for his 6-under performance today. It was his third top-five finish in five tournaments this season and matched his best 54-hole score of the year. He was three strokes behind third place and four strokes off of the lead.
Zach Berhost finished under par today with a 1-under 71 for the second Mountain Lion team score. He finished out the round with 4-under-par on holes eight through 12. Berhost moved up 16 positions in the overall standings and tied for No. 44 with a 7-over-par 223 over three rounds.
Zach Tripp and
Blake Young both turned in scorecards of 77 to round out the UCCS team score at 291. Young finished in a tie for No. 50 in the tournament standings with a 227, while Tripp was one stroke behind with a 228 and a tie for No. 56.
The Mountain Lions tied for eighth with Sonoma State, and the two schools were three strokes behind the sixth-place teams of California State-East Bay and California Baptist. The 291 score for UCCS was the fifth-best score of the fall season and was seven strokes better than any other round of the tournament. The Mountain Lions made the biggest jump among the teams today with an improvement of five positions.
UCCS will be off until the start of the spring season in March. The Mountain Lions finished the fall as the RMAC Regular Season Champions with a sweep of the two conference events, finished sixth at the NCAA Division II National Preview and placed No. 10 at the South Central Regional Preview.
