Westlake Village, Calif.----- The San Jose State University men's golf team had a better all-around day in the second-round of the 42nd annual Southwestern Invitational at the North Ranch Country Club.
Playing in their first tournament of the season and first competition since March 2020, the Spartans' team score for the day was 300, 19 strokes better than in the opening round on the par 72, 6,992-yard course.
The lower team score helped San Jose State move into an 11th-place tie with Augusta at 619 in the 12-team field.
"It's so fantastic to get out and play and take inventory of where we are because you don't really ever know until the flag drops," said San José State University men's golf head coach John Kennaday about the team's first 36 holes of the season. "We're taking it in, doing our very best and trying to learn as much as we possibly can."
First-round leader Arizona State stayed on top in the team standings with its 574 total for 36 holes. Louisville moved from fourth to second with its 579 team total. San Diego State and SMU are tied for third at 581. Host Pepperdine turned in the best team score of the second round with an 11-under par 277 and is in contention for the team championship at 585.
Plagued by difficulties on holes 14 through 18 in round one, San Jose State played the back nine first in round two under sunny skies and much less wind than the day before when gusts of 30 miles an hour and temperatures hovering in the 40's were prevalent. The Spartans were four-over par among its counting scores on those holes, a 17-stroke improvement over a 24-hour period.
"We're starting to gain a little bit of traction. It's kind of hard to tell where you are when you don't get to compete together... We're just working out the kinks and some of them don't particularly translate well to TV right now. They're (the players) doing a lot of good things actually," Kennaday added.
Carl Corpus led the way for San Jose State with a two-under par 70, one of 18 under par scores on the day. Corpus had five birdies and three bogeys in his round and is tied for 33rd place at 151 in the 66-player field. Senior Nate Jetter and junior Bryce Wortman playing as an individual entry each signed for a 76; Caleb Shetler and Kristopher Stiles each shot 77; and senior Sean Yu matched his opening-round 78.
First-round co-leader David Puig of Arizona State bolted to a three-shot lead over the field with a six-under par 66 for a 136 total. Mathias Schmid of Louisville is second at 139. Youssef Guezzale of San Diego State and first-round co-leader Noah Goodwin of SMU are tied for third at 141. Only eight players are under par heading into the final round on January 27.
GOLF Channel will conclude its nine hours of live coverage with a three-hour final round block beginning at 12:00 p.m. (PT). A replay follows at 5:30 p.m. (PT). San Jose State team tee times off hole #10 begin at 8:27 a.m. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
42nd annual Southwestern Invitational men's golf tournament
North Ranch Country Club, Westlake Village, Calif.
Par 72, 6,992 yards
| Team scores |
|
| 1. Arizona State |
574 |
| 2. Louisville |
579 |
| 3. SMU |
581 |
| 4. San Diego State |
582 |
| 5. Pepperdine |
585 |
| 6. Georgia Tech |
595 |
| 7. California |
597 |
| Southern California |
597 |
| 9. East Tennessee State |
598 |
| 10. Saint Mary's (Calif.) |
615 |
| 11. San Jose State |
619 |
| Augusta |
619 |
| Leading individuals |
|
| 1. David Puig, Arizona State |
70-66-136 (-7) |
| 2. Mathias Schmid, Louisville |
71-68-139 (-5) |
| 3. Noah Goodwin, SMU |
70-71-141 (-3) |
| Youssef Guezzale, San Diego State |
73-68-141 (-3) |
| 5. Joey Vrzich, Pepperdine |
76-67-143 (-1) |
| R.J. Manke, Pepperdine |
74-69-143 (-1) |
| McClure Meissner, SMU |
72-71-143 (-1) |
| San Jose State scores |
|
| 33. Carl Corpus |
81-70-151 (+7) |
| 40. Bryce Wortman (ind.) |
77-76-153 (+9) |
| 47. Nate Jetter |
79-76-155 (+11) |
| 50. Sean Yu |
78-78-156 (+12) |
| 54. Caleb Shetler |
81-77-158 (+14) |
| 65. Kristopher Stiles |
93-77-170 (+26) |
| (ind.) - playing as an individual |
|
