Golfers Move Into Fourth In Fallen Oak Collegiate

SAUCIER, Miss. — The University of Colorado men's golf team had a solid day in tough and windy conditions, moving up four spots into fourth place here Monday as the second day of the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational came to a close.

Auburn, which dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the rankings, took it out on the course Monday in recording a 5-under team score of 283, the lowest in the field, giving the Tigers a two-round total of 11-under 565. First round leader and No.10 Mississippi State slipped into second, six back at 5-under 571, while No. 3 Mississippi remained in third (2-under 574), one of only two schools to hold their first round positions.

Making the biggest move of the day were the Buffaloes, who started the day tied for eighth but put up a team score of 3-over 291, the third-best of the round, to sit at 8-over 584 in fourth place. But No. 29 SMU (585) and Kansas (586) are on their heels.

Junior Dylan McDermott fashioned CU's best effort in the second round – as well as tying for the second-best in the field – as he had a 3-under 69 to give him a 1-under 143 through 36 holes, tying him for 11th. He had seven birdies with seven pars and four bogeys on his round, the seven birdies the most by any player in the 72-man field on Monday (two others had six, the only ones with more than five). His first birdie in the round came on the 396-yard, par-4 11th, which was one of just five on that hole Monday, and he's playing the tough par-4s at even, tied for fourth in the event at this point.

Junior Jack Holland shot a second consecutive 2-over 74, as he tied for 27th with a 4-over 148. He had three birdies and 10 pars with five bogeys, as he hovered most of the round between 1- and 2-over. He's played the par-5s the best of the Buffaloes here at 4-under, tied for eighth in the field.

Junior Justin Biwer got off to a rare poor start, as he was 4-over after his first five holes (Nos. 10-14) en route to matching his high score of his collegiate career – a 5-over 77; he is tied for 29th overall with a 5-over 149. He did settle down to play his last 13 holes at 1-over, thought it marked the first time in his CU career he didn't make at least one birdie, quite a feat since this was his 84th round.

Sophomore Hunter Swanson rebounded from an opening 70 to card a 1-under 71 in round two, as he sits at 6-over 150 and tied for 34th heading into Tuesday's final round. He had four birdies and 12 pars with one bogey and a double; he opened with six straight pars before making a double bogey on No. 16. He then played the next 10 holes at 4-under but finished the day with his lone bogey (on No. 9).

Freshman Brandon Knight is tied for 50th after carding a 7-over 79, his collegiate high score in 11 rounds, with an 8-over total of 152. He had two birdies and eight pars with seven bogeys and a double, having most of his troubles in his first nine holes, making the turn after the 18th hole at 5-over. One of his birdies came on the 161-yard, par-3 14th, one of just five all day on the hole

Junior Tucker Clark, competing individually thus his scores can't count toward CU's team total, had a 7-over 79 Monday which pushed him to an 8-over 152 through 36 holes, also tying him for 50th. Like Knight, he had two birdies and eight pars that countered seven bogeys and a double; he opened with a birdie on No. 10, but struggled on his last two holes, finishing bogey-double. That birdie on the 468-yard, par-4 10th was one of just four on it Monday.

"Two really good rounds from Dylan and Hunter," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "Super proud of the way the guys hung in there in a hard course in windy conditions. Dutchy (Holland) had a better round than his score indicated and Justin did well after a bad start, even though he doesn't think he did."

Ole Miss' Michael La Sasso, a co-leader after the first round, put some distance into his lead, as he shot one of the five rounds in the 60s Monday – a 3-under 69 – to give him an 8-under 136 score. That leads a pair of players by four strokes.

The third and final round will be Tuesday; Colorado will be again be paired with old rival Kansas for the second straight day along with SMU. Including their individuals, they will tee off starting at 7:00 a.m. MDT off the No. 1 tee. The weather forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures to be in the upper 50s at the start of the round warming into the low 70s, with negligible winds.

NOTES: The average score for 144 rounds through Monday is 74.65, after it ballooned to 75.31 in the second round; there are just 12 players under par through 36 holes and only two others even heading into Tuesday's final round … Only Auburn had four scoring players shoot better than 75 in round two, with Colorado one of six to have three do it (with Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Wisconsin) … Mississippi's Cameron Tankersley had the low round of the day – a 5-under 67 – otherwise there were four 69s, two 70s and six 71s for 13 subpar scores in the second round (down from 18 in the first) … The Buff scorers are now sixth in birdies (27; Auburn and Mississippi State continue to lead with 37), while CU is third in pars (109; behind Ole Miss 112 and SMU 110) … Colorado is tied for sixth across the board in playing the par-3 holes at 10-over, the par-4s at 20-over and the par-5s at 8-under … Colorado is one of five teams to have all six of its players, including its individual, in the top 50 in the individual standings … This is just the second event the Buffaloes have ever played in Mississippi; the other was in the fall of 2005 in the Tunica National Intercollegiate, which was the last tournament coordinated by long-time head coach Mark Simpson who would pass away six weeks later (senior Ed McGlasson won the event and dedicated it to the ailing CU coach, who was in treatment back in Colorado at the time; current associate head coach Derek Tolan tied for ninth as the Buffaloes tied for sixth with Mississippi State) … Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the tri-hosts of the event … Saucier is located in south central Mississippi, about 15 miles north of the Gulf Coast … The Buffaloes will close out the fall portion of their schedule in two weeks (Oct. 26-28), traveling to Maui to play in the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate for the third straight year.

BUFFALO INDIVIDUALS
T11.	Dylan McDermott	74-69—143
T27.	Jack Holland	74-74—148
T29.	Justin Biwer	72-77—149
T34.	Hunter Swanson	79-71—150
T50.	Brandon Knight	73-79—152
T50.	*Tucker Clark	73-79—152

(*—competing individually)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1.	Michael La Sasso, Mississippi	67-69—136
T2.	Josep Serra, Mississippi State	68-72—140
T2.	Matthew Foster, SMU	69-71—140
T4.	Jackson Kolvun, Auburn	68-73—141
T4.	Cameron Huss, Wisconson	71-70—141

TEAM STANDINGS

1.	Auburn	282-283—565
2.	Mississippi State	276-295—571
3.	Mississippi	289-285—574
4.	COLORADO	293-291—584
5.	SMU	290-295—585
6.	Kansas	293-293—586
7.	Louisiana Tech	291-298—589
8.	Southern Mississippi	290-301—591
9.	Wisconsin	302-294—596
10.	Nevada-Las Vegas	291-305—597
11.	Iowa	298-306—604
12.	Central Florida	296-311—607

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Players Mentioned

Justin Biwer

Tucker Clark

Jack Holland

Brandon Knight

Dylan McDermott

Hunter Swanson