Yellowjacket Men Ninth after First Day at Bakersfield (Feb. 28, 2005)

BAKERSFIELD, CA – The Montana State-Billings men’s golf team opened its season with two record rounds Monday at the Family Motors Invitational host by Cal State-Bakersfield.  The Yellowjackets carded school-record rounds of 295 and 289 and sit in ninth place at the 13 team tourney with a two round total of 584.

The Yellowjackets’ Chris Haas (Jr., Bozeman, MT) shot rounds of 75 and 69 to tie for sixteenth place in the individual standings at 144.  His second round was one of just 12 individual rounds shot below 70 on the opening day.  Freshman Nicholas Larson (Riverton, WY) is just a stroke behind Haas after rounds of 72 and 73. 

The tournament wraps up on Tuesday with 18 holes at the Seven Oaks Country Club in Bakersfield.  Western Washington leads the team standings with a 556 after rounds of 282 and 274.  Cal State-Bakersfield is just four strokes off the pace at 560 followed by Grand Canyon at 571.  Western Washington’s Luke Bennett leads the individual standings with a two-round total of 134.  He posted rounds of 70 and 64.

MSU Billings Individual Scores
      T 16    Chris Haas               75   69    144
      T 24    Nicholas Larson          72   73    145
      T 30    Chris McConnell          75   71    146
      T 63    Zach Abels               73   79    152
      T 72    Bryan Barthelmess        83   76    159

Team Standings
      Fin.   Top 20 Teams             Scores 
         1   Western Washington U     282  274    556    
         2   CSU-Bakersfield          284  276    560    
         3   Grand Canyon Univ.       285  286    571    
         4   CSU-Monterey Bay         291  285    576    
         5   CSU-Chico                297  280    577    
         6   CSU-Stanislaus           294  285    579    
         7   CSU-San Bernardino       291  289    580    
         8   Western New Mexico U     292  291    583    
         9   Montana St-Billings      295  289    584    
        10   UC San Diego             298  290    588    
        11   Sonoma State U.          304  290    594    
        12   St. Martin's College     306  292    598    
        13   CSU-Dominguez Hills      311  308    619    

Top 10 Individuals
   Fin.    Top 10 Players         School       Scores 
      1    Luke Bennett           W. Wash U.    70   64   134
      2    D.J. Fernando          CSUB          69   67   136
      3    Josh Immordino         W. Wash U.    68   70   138
      4    Bryan Manning          Gnd Canyon    72   68   140
           Eric Justesen          CSUMB         70   70   140
           Justin Stover          Gnd Canyon    67   73   140
      7    Mark Baker             CSUB          72   69   141
           Tim Feenstra           W. Wash U.    72   69   141
           Greg Pool              W New Mex.    71   70   141
     10    Ryan Thornberry        CSUStanis     73   69   142
           Bryan Newman           CSUSB         72   70   142