LA VERNE, Calif. — The No. 21 La Verne men's golf team shot a second round-low score of 290 to finish two rounds in second place at the West Cup on Monday at Sierra La Verne Country Club (par-71).
The tournament, hosted by La Verne, invites some of the best teams in the country west of the Mississippi and this year's field includes No. 6 Wittenberg, No. 12 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 23 St. Thomas (Minn.) and No. 25 Pacific Lutheran.
The Leopards (309-290=599) sit just one stroke back of Trinity (Texas), who recorded a total of 598 (299-299).
The course played extremely tough as players had to contend with fast greens and high winds in the afternoon. No player finished under par in either round.
The Leopards started slowly and sat in last place at one point in the first round. But the Leopards, who started on the 10th tee, improved in the front nine to close out the round and played some of their best golf in the second round.
Alec Spencer, as always, led the way with round low-tying score of even-par 71 in the second round, sinking five birdies. Aaron DiGiamarino and Jason Brown cut four and five strokes, repectively, from the first round to each post 72. Spencer sits in second place individually, DiGiamarino is tied for third and Brown is tied for 10th.
Austin Matzaganian didn't figure into scoring in the first round but bounced back with a solid 75 in the second round. Conner Davis carded a 79 in the first round and an 81 in the second round.
La Verne also fielded a "B" team with younger players and it nearly upstaged the "A" squad. Led by Hisham Hussein who carded a 74 in the first round, the "B" team was five strokes ahead of the "A" team and in fourth place after 18 holes.
The Leopards held strong in the second round and finished the day in sixth place. Hussein is tied for fifth with a total score of 149 (74-75) and Charlie Green is tied for 16th (77-76=153). The "B" team will get a stiff test in the final round, being paired with CMS and St. Thomas.
The "A" team will pair up with Trinity, Wittenberg and Redlands.
The final round will start at 6:53 tomorrow and can be followed live HERE.