Freshman Frederick Egnatios kept his momentum going on Monday, shooting a six-under 66 to share a four-way lead after the opening round at the Saint Mary’s Invitational. Cal Poly Men’s Golf enters the second round in eighth place, with a collective four-under 284 from its four top-scoring players.
After sharing the individual title in his last tournament, Egnatios got off to a bumpy start in the opening round at the par-72, 7,044-yard Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Club.
Starting on the 10th, the nation’s 76th-ranked player birdied three holes and bogeyed two to shoot a 1-under 35 over the first nine holes. Egnatios then kicked it into gear, recording five birdies over the next eight holes to finish at 6-under par and join three others at the top of the leaderboard.
Freshman Vidur Subramaniam was the next lowest-scoring Mustang, recording three birdies en route to a one-under 71 and sits tied for 26th heading into the second round. Sophomore Rafael Bobo-Lloret is tied for 50th at one-over par, and freshman Leo McDonough is tied for 63rd at two-over to round out Cal Poly’s top four.
The program is just six shots back from No. 47 California, No. 33 Washington and Oregon, all tied for first place.
In the second round, Egnatios has taken sole possession of the lead after shooting a four-under 68 to get to 10-under over 36 holes.
On the front nine, the freshman was bogey-free, adding one birdie on the ninth. After a birdie and bogey on the 10th and 11th holes, Egnatios cruised to another low scorecard, securing three birdies over the last five holes.
Egnatios is currently leading multiple players ranked higher than him, including No. 14 Emil Nielsen out of Santa Clara and No. 4 Finn Koelle from Washington.
Cal Poly holds fifth place at seven-under as the team enters the final round on Wednesday.
Subramaniam and senior Jack Jarvis both shot even 72s to maintain their scores of one-under and three-over, respectively. Bobo-Lloret also played a consistent round, carding another 73-over to reach two-over through the first two rounds.
The Mustangs will tee off for their final round tomorrow morning as the team looks to close the gap in the standings and Egnatios seeks his second consecutive win.