Monday, September 30
Fresno, CA
8:45 a.m.
Gonzaga University
at
Nick Watney Invitational - Day One
Ruel Tied for 19th Entering Final Round in Fresno
9/30/2019 7:05:00 PM | Men's Golf
Zags are in 11th at Nick Watney Invitational
FRESNO, Calif. – Gonzaga men's golfer Matthew Ruel is two-under par (140) after the first two rounds of the Nick Watney Invitational. The Zag junior is tied for 19th at the annual event at the Fort Washington Country Club.
Ruel had back-to-back rounds of 70 (-1) to open the tournament. He made five pars in the opening round and four in the second. Ruel was four-under (4.33) on the course's Par-5 holes through the first two rounds.
The Bulldogs are tied for 11th as a team. GU is 13-over with a team total of 581. The Zags were three-over (287) in Round 1, and 10-over (294) in Round 2.
Gonzaga's Zach Stocker and Nick Nolan are both five-over (147) in a tie for 61st. Both were even-par (71) in the first round and five-over (76) in the second round. Stocker made three birdies and 11 pars in the opening round, before making 14 pars to close the day in round two. Nolan made three birdies in each round.
Chris Mogg (+7, 149) and Holden Backes (+9, 151) are tied for 73rd and 82nd. Mogg made five birdies on Day 1, including three in the second round. He carded a 74 (+3) in Round 2. Backes was also three-over (74) in the second round. He made 13 pars in Round 2, after making 11 in the first round.
"Our inconsistency is really hurting us right now," Gonzaga Head Coach Robert Gray said. "Like at our first event a couple of weeks ago, we didn't back up our first round on the 36-hole day, dropping three places and putting a finish higher than ninth extremely difficult to attain. We have to really bring some grit and battle these second rounds out better. We've shown we can compete for a top finish thru individual rounds but we need to put up those same results in numerous rounds in order to finish towards the top of the leader board. All of these men are easily capable of moving past this phase and I know we'll work through it as the season progresses."
Long Beach State and BYU are tied for first at 14-under (554), while hosts Fresno State is in third at 13-under (555). LBSU's Hunter Epson tops the leaderboard at 10-under (132). Peter Kuest of BYU is nine-under (133).
Tuesday's third and final round begins at 8:45 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
Ruel had back-to-back rounds of 70 (-1) to open the tournament. He made five pars in the opening round and four in the second. Ruel was four-under (4.33) on the course's Par-5 holes through the first two rounds.
The Bulldogs are tied for 11th as a team. GU is 13-over with a team total of 581. The Zags were three-over (287) in Round 1, and 10-over (294) in Round 2.
Gonzaga's Zach Stocker and Nick Nolan are both five-over (147) in a tie for 61st. Both were even-par (71) in the first round and five-over (76) in the second round. Stocker made three birdies and 11 pars in the opening round, before making 14 pars to close the day in round two. Nolan made three birdies in each round.
Chris Mogg (+7, 149) and Holden Backes (+9, 151) are tied for 73rd and 82nd. Mogg made five birdies on Day 1, including three in the second round. He carded a 74 (+3) in Round 2. Backes was also three-over (74) in the second round. He made 13 pars in Round 2, after making 11 in the first round.
"Our inconsistency is really hurting us right now," Gonzaga Head Coach Robert Gray said. "Like at our first event a couple of weeks ago, we didn't back up our first round on the 36-hole day, dropping three places and putting a finish higher than ninth extremely difficult to attain. We have to really bring some grit and battle these second rounds out better. We've shown we can compete for a top finish thru individual rounds but we need to put up those same results in numerous rounds in order to finish towards the top of the leader board. All of these men are easily capable of moving past this phase and I know we'll work through it as the season progresses."
Long Beach State and BYU are tied for first at 14-under (554), while hosts Fresno State is in third at 13-under (555). LBSU's Hunter Epson tops the leaderboard at 10-under (132). Peter Kuest of BYU is nine-under (133).
Tuesday's third and final round begins at 8:45 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
Tuesday, June 30
Monday, June 29
Monday, June 29
Friday, June 26
