MARICOPA, Ariz. - The Gaels are looking to continue their momentum of two top-five placed finishes in a row at this week's Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Maricopa, Arizona. With another stacked field of nine top-70 ranked teams competing, Saint Mary's will look to carry their recent form into this tournament.
Saint Mary's did just that on the first day in round one, with
Go Nakatsukasa,
Connor Reis, and
Avery Lazarski all finishing with even-par scores. While a t-3rd finisher at the Duck Invitational,
Aidan Lee, would finish 73 (+1) in his opening round. The back nine saw the Gaels record ten birdies in total, finishing the morning with a team score of 289 (+1).
Aidan Lee and
Zack Missigman would have the best round of the afternoon, playing the course one under for Lee and two under for Missigman. Out of the 120-player field, the Gaels had all finished top-80 through the 34 holes, and notably,
Aidan Lee looked to continue his great performance last week as he finished in the top half at t-42nd. The second round would get blown to a stop at 6:50 PM due to darkness, seeing Saint Mary's sit at +3 as the day drew to a close through 15 holes of golf.
The Gaels would restart round two and finish it off, scoring 290 (+2) and moving on to the third and final round of the event, where Conor Reis would get hot and conclude his third round with a 69 (-3). Reis capped the round off in style with an eagle hole out on a par four at the first, catapulting him to t-35th individually in the Cowboy Classic.
Aidan Lee dropped only six places to t-48th, and the rest of the Gaels finished top 73 in the individual rankings. Sophomore
James Williams also competed as an individual for the Gaels in his second consecutive event. The Martinez native recorded three straight 77's on the week and finished as the third best individual in t-109th.
AK-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club was a challenge on all three days as the Gaels scored a (+6) team total, ending up 12th in the standings but climbing two spots on the final day after finishing Monday t-14th. They faced some very challenging opponents and course conditions as the winners, Long Beach State, concluded the tournament 37-under as a team.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will look to bounce back as they compete in the Tiger Intercollegiate on April 7th and 8th, in Columbia, Missouri. Full tournament information and live scoring links for the event can be found at smcgaels.com.
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