University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers in Seventh at Spring Hill
9/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 11, 2011
The Golden Gophers opened the 2011-12 season Sunday as the hosts of the seventh annual Gopher Invitational and sit in seventh place with 18 holes remaining. The University of Notre Dame sits atop the leader board with a 36-hole score of 1-over par 577, four shots ahead of Arkansas. The Fighting Irish also held the lead following round one.
The invitational, held at the plush Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata, Minn., marks the beginning of the John Carlson era as head coach of the Gophers. Carlson spent last season as Minnesota's Associate Head Coach. Assistant Coach Tyler Stith is also new to Gold Country.
Carlson's Gophers played will in spurts on day one, reaching as high as third place midway through the second round. A veteran and a freshman are the main reasons.
Freshman Tyler Lowenstein carded rounds of 74 and 72 during his first two collegiate rounds and is in a tie for 10th place. Junior Erik Van Rooyen opened with an even-par 72, followed that up with a 75 and is in a tie for 13th place. Fellow juniors Robert Bell and David Haley Jr. are in a tie for 30th place while yet another junior Shang Zhi is in a tie for 48th.
The Gophers began the second round in sixth place following a first round combined score of 295 (+7).
Charlotte, SMU and Iowa round out the top five team scores. Notre Dame's Paul McNamara opened the invitational with a seven-under par 66, one shot off of the course record. Like much of the field, McNamara struggled through round two but holds the 36-hole lead with five-under par 139.
Iowa's Barrett Kelpin fired a one-under par 71 in round two and is one shot off of the lead. Kelpin is only one of six players to finish the round under par.
The third and final round of the 2011 Gopher Invitational will get underway at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning. Live scoring will be available on www.golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
