Pope Propels Cowboys Through 36 Holes at Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational

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ERIE, Colo. (Sept. 25, 2017) – Senior Quintin Pope carded rounds of 69 (-3) and 70 (-2) on Monday at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, leading the Cowboy golf team to a 36-hole score of 563 (-13) for second place in the team standings. With 18 holes remaining on Tuesday, Pope sits in a tie for sixth on the individual leaderboard while Wyoming is just two strokes back of host CU in the race for the team title.

EZ Cash

“I’m happy that he played well,” said UW head coach Joe Jensen about Pope on Monday. “He had a nice day. That’s how Quintin is capable of playing. With (Quintin) playing well, it’s nice to see additional production in the lineup outside of John (Murdock) and Drew (McCullough). That’s good for our team and shows us we have a little depth. I’m proud of the guys because we played better in the afternoon to close the gap on Colorado. We’re going to play to the best of our capability tomorrow. We will need to work hard.”

Pope recorded four birdies during the morning round and three in the afternoon round on Monday at the Colorado National Golf Club, limiting himself to just two bogies all day for a 36-hole score of 139 (-5). He is four strokes back of Colorado’s Spencer Painton for the individual lead. Meanwhile, Murdock is tied for 13th place after steady rounds of 70 (-2) and 71 (-1) on Monday for a 36-hole score of 141 (-3). Murdock recorded five birdies along with 29 pars, tied for the third-best total in the field of 107 golfers.

Wyoming Trucks Dea;ls

McCullough struggled through the morning round, carding a 76 (+4) in the morning before six afternoon birdies led him to a second-round 68 (-4), which proved to be the Cowboys’ best individual round of the day. With a two-round score of 144 (E), McCullough is tied for 27th on the individual leaderboard along with fellow senior Glenn Workman, who posted rounds of 73 (+1) and 71 (-1) on Monday. Workman was steady throughout the day, making up for four bogies with four birdies during the first 36 holes. Senior Arron Lickteig was also steady through Monday’s 36 holes, posting a morning 71 (-1) and an afternoon 75 (+3) to find himself in a tie for 49thplace at 146 (+2) with 18 holes left to play.

Playing as an individual, freshman Carl Underwood showed poise on Monday with rounds of 73 (+1) and 70 (-2). Underwood is in a tie for 19th place at 143 (-1) through 36 holes, the best standing among individual players with one round remaining. Fellow individual Dan Starzinski is tied for 93rd place, carding rounds of 73 (+1) and 79 (+7) on Monday.

Altogether, the five members of the Cowboy lineup posted seven subpar rounds and just three rounds above par on Monday. After a team score of 283 (-5) in the morning, Wyoming moved up two spots in the team standings with the best afternoon round in the 19-team field at 280 (-8). Tournament host Colorado currently leads the Brown and Gold by just two strokes at 561 (-15).

The Cowboys are paired with Colorado, third-place Utah and fourth-place Air Force for Tuesday’s final 18 holes, with Lickteig set to start things off for the Pokes at 7:55 a.m. MT. The rest of the Cowboy lineup will tee off in 10-minute increments following Lickteig, while Underwood and Starzinski are set to hit the course at 8:15. Follow live results at the link above and stay tuned to @wyo_golf on Twitter for more updates.