GOLF | Hathcoat Dominates on Day 1 of PING Cougar Classic

Blake Hathcoat trails only Peter Kuest on the individual leaderboard through two rounds in Provo.

PROVO, Utah — The Gaels got off to a strong start at the PING Cougar Classic on Friday as Blake Hathcoat had a spectacular middle round to jump to second in the field.

THE LEADERBOARD
After a steady opening round with a 2-under score, Hathcoat dominated the second round as he knocked down six birdies and an eagle for a 8-under performance. The junior's below par holes came in bunches as he birdied 13th to 15th and then 2nd through 4th with his eagle coming on 5th.

Hathcoat will now be looking to top his previous best performance set last month at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic where he finished tied for first. Currently, he sits four strokes back of the tournament leader, BYU's No. 7 Peter Kuest.

Saint Mary's finished Friday's rounds in 7th place out of 15 teams with a combined 6-under score. Denver tops the leaderboard at 18-under while No. 35 BYU (16-under) and Boise State (13-under) follow closely behind.

Michael Slesinski was the Gaels' second best golfer on Friday as he finished 1-over and tied for 33rd. Ethan Ashbrook ended at 3-over, Ethan Farnam followed at 5-over, and Ryan Grauman rounded out the lineup at 12-over.

The Gaels saw strong play from their individuals as well. Ash Hakim shot 3-over while Evan Peterson was just a few strokes back at 5-over. Dylan VanderVeer also took the course and was 7-over for the first two rounds.

FIRST AND SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS

Slesinski had six birdies in the first round en route to a 3-under total through 18 holes.
Peterson also eagled the fifth hole during the middle round.
Hathcoat shot 2-under on par 3's, which tied him for second best.
Seven of the eight Gaels had birdies or eagles on hole No. 5 in one or both rounds.
Saint Mary's tied for third on par 5 performances at 14-under.

UP NEXT: FINAL ROUND