PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Santa Clara men's golf improved its second-round score by nine shots to move up three spots on the leaderboard, ending 36 holes of the Saint Mary's Invitational in a tie for 14th at 597.
"Not pretty, but better," head coach Rob Miller said of his team's second-round 294, which moved the Broncos into a tie with fellow WCC member San Francisco. The back half of the leaderboard is congested with nine teams separated by 19 strokes.
No. 19 BYU has a comfortable 14-shot lead over Pepperdine after two rounds.
The Broncos got some relief with Matt McCarty shooting even-par 70 on Tuesday. The junior withdrew from the first round with back discomfort and the team struggled. "Matt felt better and was able to contribute today," Miller said.
Pacing the Broncos on Tuesday was freshman Nordin van Tilburg, who got his second-round off to a good start with an eagle on the par-5 first hole. He played even par the rest of the way to finish at 2-under 69, leaving him just outside the top-20 with a 1-over 143 total.
"There was a little improvement," Miller added. "We had two good scores, but we need to be better tomorrow and move up the leaderboard. We need four good scores."
Breaking in a new set of sticks, senior Derek Ackerman carded a second-round 78 to end the day with a share of 73rd place at 10-over 152. That's one swing better than freshman Konrad Brauckmeyer, who has a two-round total of 153. Sophomore Berk Harvey scored back-to-back rounds of 78 for a 156 total.
Competing as an individual in his first event of the season, junior Ryan Johnson completed 36 holes at 157.
Given the issues the Broncos faced leading up and into this event, Miller summed things up eloquently by saying, "We're just trying to survive."
Final round action is scheduled to begin Wednesday with a 7:30 a.m. PT tee time from the first hole. You can follow the action with live scoring on golfstat.com.
Santa Clara Second Round Individual Results
| T23. | Nordin van Tilburg | 74-69 = 143 (+1) |
| T73. | Derek Ackerman | 74-78 = 152 (+10) |
| T81. | Konrad Brauckmeyer | 77-76 = 153 (+11) |
| T92. | Berk Harvey | 78-78 = 156 (+14) |
| T95. | Ryan Johnson (I) | 79-78 = 157 (+15) |
| -- | Matt McCarty | WD-71 |
I – competing as an individual
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