STOCKTON, Calif. – Senior
Matt Tolan fired his lowest round of the fall on Tuesday afternoon at the Visit Stockton Invitational, helping to keep South Dakota in 14th on the leaderboard after 36 holes at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
Tolan's second-round 68 was his best of the 2019-20 campaign thus far and was tied for the third-best round in the entire field as he moved into a tie for 18th on the leaderboard. The Eau Claire, Wis., native birdied his final two holes of the day to card the four-under 68, which matches the lowest round by any Coyote in 2019 alongside
Scott Fudenberg's opening round at the Ram Masters Invitational and
Ben Hicks' final round at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate.
San Jose State continues to sit atop the team leaderboard with a four-stroke lead over No. 5 BYU and a six-shot advantage over No. 35 Long Beach State. The Spartans' Sean Yu also leads among all players, sitting three strokes ahead of No. 35 Rhett Rasmussen of BYU; BYU's Peter Kuest, the No. 1 golfer in the latest Golfstat rankings, is tied for ninth through 36 holes.
Just behind Tolan (75-68 – 143) on the Coyote card is
Ben Hicks, who followed his team-best 73 on Monday with a 75 on Tuesday afternoon for a score of 148 after two rounds; Hicks is tied for 50th in the strong field.
Justin Kolb is right on Hicks' heels, only one stroke behind (75-74 – 149) with a solid outing in his second round. In 11 rounds so far this fall, Kolb has shot 75 or better in all but one, extending his run of consistency for the Coyotes.
Scott Fudenberg (79-73 – 152) and
Jacob Michel (83-77 – 160) closed out the card for South Dakota, with Fudenberg's 73 his best round since closing the Zach Johnson Invitational with a 72 on Oct. 1.
Competing as an individual,
Hunter Paugh shot an 80 during Tuesday's action and sits at 159 (79-80) after two rounds.
South Dakota will conclude its fall schedule on Wednesday with its final round in California; the Coyotes will then have the winter off from competition before returning to the course at the Martin Downs Collegiate, hosted by UNCG, in mid-February.
