SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Washington men’s golf team produced a solid round during the first day of the 78th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club on Monday, posting a six-over 356 in the play-6-count-5 format.
“Overall today was a step forward for us,” head coach Alan Murray said. “We had lots of first timers playing here at Pasatiempo and it is a challenge. We did a good job of hanging in there and dealing with this kind of test.”
Finn Koelle led the way for the Huskies, firing four birdies to just two bogeys for a two-under 68, the fifth sub-70 round of the sophomore’s season. The round was good for a tie for 10th.
Aside from Koelle, UW’s other four counters all tied for 43rd with matching 72s.
Brock Maulding fought through an up-and-down round to card the second best score of his career, mixing four birdies, two bogeys and a pair of double bogeys. Meanwhile, Drew Warford recovered from three-straight bogeys to open his round, finishing with two birdies and 12 pars over the final 15 holes.
Jack Murphy also recovered from a slow start, bogeying the first two holes before posting a trio of birdies and bogeys over the next 16 holes, while Jake Foley sunk a birdie on 18 to cap his own two-over round.
“Great round from Finn, who looked really good out there,” Murray said. “Jake played better than his score as he had a tough finish and Jack kind of struggled but was gritty and scrapped hard. Drew got off to a tough start and hung tough all day, while Brock played well and also had a tough finish. For the guys to be around par all day and compete hard without their best stuff was really pleasing.”
Abel Derksen rounded out the Washington lineup, carding a nine-over 79. Playing as an individual, Justin Hopkins posted three birdies en route to a seven-over 77.
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