A 13-over 293 team score Saturday dragged the No. 23 University of Arkansas men’s golf team down to a tie for 14th place in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Razorbacks began the day in a tie for 10th and climbed all the way to sixth before falling back when Segundo Oliva Pinto and Manuel Lozada combined to shoot 11 over on the final nine holes as each turned in 5-over 75 performances.
Arkansas began on the back nine, where Oliva Pinto shot 1 under before playing 6 over on the front; Lozada opened even par on the first nine holes before unraveling on the front, where he carded six bogeys including five in a row.
Tyson Reeder and Julian Perico both recorded rounds of 3-over 73, and William Buhl led the Razorbacks with his second consecutive 2-over 72. He and Lozada enter today’s final round tied for 45th place.
Behind the Razorbacks, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock fell out of contention with a 23-over performance, leaving the Trojans tied for 29th in the 30-team field at 37 over for the event.
No. 3 Oklahoma State shot 6-under 274 and leads at 6 under through two rounds, five strokes ahead of No. 1 Oklahoma, which notched one of only five under-par team scores of the day. Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin carded a 5-under 67 and stands as the individual leader at 8 under.
The field will be cut in half after today’s third round before a final stroke play round Monday, when the individual champion will be crowned and the top eight schools will advance to match play. The Razorbacks begin the day tied with Texas Tech at 20 over for the event and one stroke ahead of Georgia and SMU, with Oregon State close by at 22 over.
Buhl’s day began bogeys on the 10th and 12th holes, and he went 3 over on the back nine before delivering a 1 under front. He birdied four consecutive holes from the second through fifth holes, then bogeyed the sixth hole and doubled bogeyed the seventh.
Birdies on the 13th and 15th holes, and three pars between the 16th and 18th, took Oliva Pinto to 1 under at the turn, but three front nine bogeys and a quadruple bogey on the par-4 sixth hole doomed the junior’s round.
Lozada began with nine consecutive pars before opening the front with a bogey on the first hole. He followed with five consecutive bogeys between the third and seventh holes, then controlled the damage with a par on the 8th hole and a closing birdie on the 9th, falling to the tie for 45th from 17th place at the start of the day.
Reeder sat 1 under before a bogey on the 18th hole took him to even on the back nine, and he shot 3-over on the front with help from a double bogey on the seventh hole. Perico also shot even on the back, but double bogeyed the first hole and followed Reeder at 3 over on the front.
UALR’s Magnus Lomholt finished with a 13-over 83, carding the Trojans’ worst round of the day. He recorded two triple bogeys on an 8-over front nine before notching six of his nine bogeys on the back. He begins today tied for 146th.
Anton Albers led UALR with a 4-over 74. Marcel Rauch followed his first round 1-over 71 with a 6-over performance, and leads the Trojans at 7 over, tied for 82nd. Logan Pate and Nico Horder each finished at 7 over with rounds of 77.