RENO, Nev.----- The law of averages went head-to-head with the survival of the fittest as the San Jose State University men's golf team used everything in its arsenal on the first day of the Wolf Pack Classic.
The Spartans and 13 other schools in the 15-team tournament hosted by the University played their October 10 practice round in short sleeves under a bright sun. When they approached the Hidden Valley Country Club parking lot for Monday's 36-hole marathon, they encountered temperatures below 40 degrees when factoring in the wind chill and dealt with occasional snowflakes on the par 72, 7,301-yard course.
"It was a little bit of a shock playing in driving snow (in the first round). They got over it in the second round and got to work. I don't know if I've seen snow like that. ... But there were five or six times today that the snow came up and I think we had one or two delays because of it. Thank God, it snowed and it didn't rain. At least we had that going for us. It was nuts. I've played in snow, but not like that," said San Jose State University men's golf coach John Kennaday.
The opening round was a mixed bag of joy and a test of will for San Jose State. With the field playing to an average score just below five-over par 77, Carl Corpus and Vijay Srinivasan best negotiated the conditions to record a 73 and a 74, respectively. Caleb Shetler signed for an 80. Nick Watts' 83 counted to the team score for the first 18 holes and Kristopher Stiles' 85 was discarded in the five-player, count-four scoring format.
The Spartans found themselves in a tie with Fresno State in 12th place with a 310 team score. New Mexico at 284 and the University of San Francisco at 285 were the first-round leaders.
San Jose State regrouped in the afternoon before darkness forced the 80-player field off the course with plans to complete the second round on Tuesday, October 12 before the regularly scheduled final round. The Spartans made the biggest leap up the leaderboard so far to a seventh place tie when competition was suspended.
Unofficially, Shetler was one-under par through 13 holes to lead the way; Corpus, one over through 14; and Srinivasan and Watts, two over par. Stiles had the non-counting score at four-over par after 11 holes.
18-hole results from the Wolf Pack Classic men's golf tournament
Hidden Valley Country Club, Reno, Nev.
Par 72, 7,302 yards
| Team scores |
|
| New Mexico |
284 |
| San Francisco |
285 |
| UCLA |
292 |
| Nevada |
295 |
| Brigham Young |
295 |
| Long Beach State |
297 |
| Saint Mary's |
305 |
| UC Davis |
306 |
| Nevada "B |
307 |
| LMU |
309 |
| San Jose State |
310 |
| Fresno State |
310 |
| San Diego |
314 |
| Air Force |
315 |
| Leading Individuals |
| 1. Christoffer Palsson, San Francisco 69 |
| George Leigh, UNLV 69 |
| 3. Matthew Anderson, San Francisco 70 |
| Albert Boneta, New Mexico 70 |
| Connor Motherway, Nevada 70 |
