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CHULA VISTA, Calif. — The University of Colorado men's golf team bounced around the standings over the first two rounds of the Lamkin San Diego Classic here Monday, eventually settling for seventh place heading into the final 18 holes. No. 1 Oklahoma State, the unanimous top team in all three rankings, played like in taking a commanding 17-stroke lead with a 23-under par 553 score. Co-host and No. 48 San Diego State holds second place at 6-under 570, with No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 22 North Carolina tied for third at 4-under 572. No. 35 Arizona is fifth (573), with No. 30 Colorado State sixth (578) with the No. 47 Buffaloes next at 3-over 579. OSU built a hefty lead after the first round with an 18-under par 270 score; three Cowboys shot in the 60s including the top two morning scores. Mississippi, the defending champion (winning with a 16-under score a year ago) was well back at 5-under 283, while the Buffaloes were in a four-way tie for third at 3-under 285. CU started the day poorly and finished in the same manner; the four players who would score toward the team total in the morning opened 6-over par, and the four in the afternoon round finished up at 8-over. Over the approximately 27 holes in-between, the Buffaloes were 11-under and CU is currently leading of three schools ahead of it in the top 50. Hanging as low as in ninth place early, the Buffs were in either second or third throughout much of the second round before the late finish. Starting on the No. 7 hole in both rounds, the Buffs did rally to shoot a 3-under team score (285) in the first round, thanks to the scorers playing the back nine at a collective 8-under. That extended CU's school record for the most consecutive rounds under par to nine, though the streak would end after a 6-over 294 tally in round two. Senior John Souza is leading the Buffalo attack, recording a pair of 70s for a 4-under 140 total on the 7,033-yard, par-72 San Diego Country Club course. That has him tied for ninth, five shots out of the lead after he scored 10 birdies on the day, tied for the fourth-most in the field. After a steady morning round (six birds, eight pars, four bogeys), he had a more eventful second time around the SDCC layout: he opened with a bogey but then got to 4-under over the next holes with an eagle and three birdies. After five straight pars, he came back down to Earth a bit with a bogey and double, but rallied to finish with a birdie. Souza was one of a dozen players to play the par-4 holes under par (minus-1) and tied for the second-best effort on the par-5s (5-under) out of the 96 players entered in the event. Senior Yannik Paul is tied for 37th after a 2-over 146 for 36 holes, as he had five birdies, 24 pars and seven bogeys. With an opening score of 2-over 74, he saw his school record of eight straight subpar rounds come to an end. He bogeyed two of his first six holes and got back down to 1-over on two occasions but no lower. Sophomore Daniel O'Loughlin and freshman Trevor Olkowski are tied for 47th with 4-over 148 totals, but got to that point in different manners. O'Loughlin (73-75) scored six birdies, 22 pars, six bogeys and two doubles for his route there, while Olkowski, playing in his native San Diego, was under par in the morning (71 before a p.m. 77) with an eagle, seven birdies, 17 pars, nine bogeys and two doubles. He was one of 11 players to finish the day under par (-1) on the eight par-3 holes combined. Senior Spencer Painton rounded out the Buff contingent, as he stands tied for 60th with a 5-over 149 score. He had CU's other subpar round on the day in the morning (71) before running into some trouble in the afternoon. He had two birdies, both on his first 18, and 25 pars against nine bogeys; his par count is tied for sixth in the field. "We saw a lot of good golf today despite an up and down performance," CU head coach Roy Edwards said. "The finish has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. It is important after a long day on the course today for us to be mentally and physically ready to play and I expect us to be." Texas Tech's Fredrik Nilehn owns the individual lead after a 69-66—135 effort, with his 9-under par score good for a one-shot lead over San Diego State's P.J. Samiere (67-69—136). Eighteen players are within seven shots of the lead, including CU's Souza. The third and final round is set for a 9 a.m. MDT shotgun start Tuesday. The Buffaloes will be paired with Louisville and Mississippi. NOTES: The morning under par team round was Colorado's 16th of the season of par or better, tying the school record set in 2013-14 and again last year … The average score Monday was 73.56 (73.39 in the morning, 73.74 in the afternoon) … The par-3 holes are proving the toughest here, as Nos. 3, 13 and 6 are played the second, third and six hardest through two rounds (the Buffs have played those at 6-over, even and 3-over, respectively) … The Buffs have played the par-5s second-best to Oklahoma State at 14-under (OSU: minus -21) … CU alum and '96 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones is back competing on the Champions Tour, finishing sixth in the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., this past Sunday; he turned in a 7-under scorecard (68-69-69) in his first event on the CT since 2015 (he plans on playing in five or six this season) … Speaking of alums, this will likely be the first time the Buffs have been paired in a round with Louisville, as the Cardinals are coached by Mark Crabtree ('78), in his 19th year as head coach at UL (they were paired several times in his nine years as head coach at Colorado State) … The Buffs last played a tournament in the San Diego area in the spring of 2011.
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