Youngstown State University
Horizon League Championships
Guins Make Late Round Surge on Day Two at Horizon League Championships
4/24/2023 1:59:00 PM | Men's Golf
Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. – The Youngstown State men's golf team regrouped in the latter stages of Monday's second round at the 2023 Horizon League Championships at the Mission Inn Resort's El Campeon course and currently resides in seventh place.
The Penguins finished with a 299 for their second round, marking a five-shot improvement from day one (304). After two rounds, YSU has carded a 603 for the tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne holds a slim one-stroke lead over defending champion Wright State at 580 and 581 while Oakland is just six shots back at 586.
The Guins are in a logjam with three other schools around the 600 mark. Cleveland State stands at 599, while IUPUI and Northern Kentucky (602) are just ahead of the Guins.
Following a slow start, YSU surged on the back nine to remain in contention heading into tomorrow morning's final round.
The Penguins were an impressive seven under par on the back nine after their five golfers totaled 23 over par in the opening nine holes. YSU had four birdies on the first nine holes, before converting 13 birdies and two eagles on holes 10 through 18 to remain in the mix. Youngstown State had just six bogeys and one double bogey on the back nine as a team.
Individually, the Guins still have three golfers within the top 21 as fifth-year senior Bryan Kordupel and Cade Kreps are tied for 14th at 149 while freshman Ryan Sam sits in 21st with a 151. Dean Austalosh improved five places and is now in 30th place with a 154 while Cole Christman had a four-position improvement and is 40th at 159.
Kreps finished his second round with a team-best one-over-par 73. On the final six holes of his round he was four under, carding an eagle at the par-five 14th and birdies at No. 15 and No. 17. He shot a two-under-par 35 on the back nine after opening with a 38 on the front side. He opened his round with a birdie on No. 1.
Kordupel was five-over-par after his first four holes in round two, but grinded back to shoot a three-over-par 75. He closed out the front side with four pars and a birdie to get to a 39. On the back side, he had four pars, three birdies and two bogeys. He had birdies at No. 10, No. 13 and No. 17. On his final six holes of the day, he was two under to gain momentum into Tuesday's finale.
Sam followed his first-round 75 with a 76. On the first nine he was four over, but was even par on the back nine. He had three birdies for his round coming at No. 10, No. 16 and No. 18.
Austalosh was on fire over his last 10 holes shooting four under par. He had a four-shot improvement from his opening round 79 to finish with a 75 on Monday. He flipped the switch on the ninth hole after sitting at plus-seven just eight holes into his round. He birdied No. 10, No. 14, No. 15 and No. 17 while parring the other six holes during his hot stretch.
Christman had a five-shot improvement from his opening round to shoot a 77. He opened with a 40 on the front side before carding a 37 on the final nine holes. On his final nine, he had an eagle at the par-five 14th hole and birdied No. 16. Additionally, he added four pars coming down the stretch.
The Penguins will play the third and final round of the Horizon League Championships on Tuesday morning. YSU's first tee time is scheduled for 8:40 off No. 10.
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