Mendez Leads the Way as Gophers Sit Third at Gopher Invite

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  INDEPENDENCE, Minn. – The University of Minnesota men’s golf team began its Big Ten title defense Sunday during the opening rounds of the 2014 Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm Golf Club, sitting third after 36 holes.

The Gophers carded a 10-over par 294 during the morning session and followed it with an 11-over par 295 during the afternoon round, and will begin Monday’s final round 17 strokes behind Baylor University, who lead the tournament at 572.

Coming off their best season in eight years, the Gophers were led by the defending Big Ten individual champion Jose Mendez who sits tied for sixth at 2-over par 144, seven shots off the lead.

Mendez, San Jose, Costa Rica, opened his sophomore season with a birdie on the first hole before making back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes. After a birdie at the ninth, Mendez made the turn at even par and after a double-bogey at the 14th, he rolled in birdie on the final hole to card a 71 during the morning round.

During the second round Sunday, Mendez rolled in four consecutive pars before moving to even par for the tournament with a birdie at the fifth. After a pair of bogeys at the seventh and ninth, Mendez finished the day Sunday with nine straight pars to sit tied for sixth at 2-over par 144.

“Today was good—I grinded a lot,” Mendez said after 36 holes Sunday. “I hit the ball good, especially with my irons.”

Mendez, named Big Ten Freshman of the Year as well as All-Big Ten First Team, said he didn't play a lot of golf over the summer as he went home to Costa Rica to spend time with his family.

“I went home and I only played in two tournaments. I took some time off and spent it with my family and just relaxed and rested,” he said.

Coming off the best individual season for the Gophers since 2003, Mendez said his expectations are even higher for his sophomore year.

“I just want to practice as much as I can and keep working hard and I think the results will pay off,” he said.

University of North Carolina-Charlotte's Victor Wiggins is the overall leader as he posted rounds of 68 and 69, respectively, and will take a three-stroke lead into the final round Monday.

The Gophers also got help from junior Jon DuToit who carded a 2-over par 73 during the morning session Sunday and followed it with a 1-over par 72 during the afternoon round, sitting tied for ninth at 145.

DuToit, Chaska, Minn., made one bogey over the first nine holes Sunday before rolling in a birdie and two more bogeys on the back to card a 73 after 18 holes.

In the afternoon, DuToit was 2-over through seven holes before carding a birdie on the eighth and made the turn at 1-over for the round. With another birdie at the 13th and a bogey at the 15th, DuToit would finish the first day of the tournament at 3-over 145.

Lone senior Tyler Lowenstein had a strong performance Sunday as well as he carded a 2-over par 73 during the opening round before shooting 3-over par 74 in the afternoon to sit tied for 16th with 18 holes to play.

Gopher head coach John Carlson was very encouraged after the first day of competition Sunday, especially with his top three players.

“I thought the top three in our lineup played great today,” Carlson said. “We lost a little bit of composure out there when he hit bad shots. It’s windy and there’s thicker rough and we need to do a better job recovering from that tomorrow.”

Carlson said while his team is accustomed to playing at Windsong, he wanted to make sure his players remained sharp to avoid big numbers during the round as the winds picked up later in the day Sunday.

“I told them not to overthink the situation, but at the same time, we need to still go through our yardage books; we need to make sure we’re not taking shots for granted because one bad swing could mean a double or triple [bogey] today,” Carlson said.

“Mendez, DuToit and Lowenstein really hung tough all day. Grady [Meyer] got off to a horrific start to his second round and battled back at 1-under his last 12 holes and because of that I think we were able to sneak into third place,” Carlson said.

The final round of the 2014 Gopher Invitational gets underway Monday with split tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Windsong Farm Golf Club.



2014 GOPHER INVITATIONAL
WINSONG FARM GOLF CLUB
INDEPENDENCE, MINN.
7,152 YARDS, PAR 71


SUNDAY’S TEAM RESULTS
1. Baylor, 289-283—572
2. California, 293-289—582
3. MINNESOTA, 294-295—589
4. North Carolina-Charlotte, 296-294—590
5. Kent State, 291-302—593
T6. Virginia Commonwealth, 302-295—597
T6. New Mexico, 292-305—597
8. Alabama-Birmingham, 309-290—599
9. Michigan State, 300-302—602
10. Notre Dame, 302-305—607
11. Nebraska, 303-305—608
12. Central Arkansas, 312-305—617
13. San Francisco, 321-298—619
14. MINNESOTA (B), 314-310—624
15. ST. JOHN’S (MINN.), 317-326—643


SUNDAY’S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Victor Wiggins, NC-Char., 68-69—137
T2. Steffen Harm, VCU, 71-69—140
T2. Kyle Jones, Baylor, 71-69—140
T4. Mikk Bjerch-Andresen, Baylor, 74-68—142
T4. Keelan Kilpatrick, Cal., 67-75—142
T6. JOSE MENDEZ, MINN., 72-72—144
T6. Andreas Gjesteby, Baylor, 71-73—144
T6. Gavin Green, New Mexico, 71-73—144
T9. JON DUTOIT, MINN., 73-72—145
T9. Joseph Abella, New Mexico, 69-76—145
T9. Ian Holt, Kent St., 69-76—145
T9. Raoul Menard, NC-Char., 72-73—145

T16. TYLER LOWENSTEIN, MINN., 73-74—147
T27. RUNAR ARNORSSON, MINN., 74-76—150
T35. DREW LYNCH, ST. JOHN’S, 78-74—152
T43. WILLIAM LEAF, MINN., 79-75—154
T52. GRADY MEYER, MINN., 80-77—157
T54. RILEY JOHNSON, MINN., 79-79—158
T56. MATT RACHEY, MINN., 76-83—159
T63. BRETT DRAXLER, ST. JOHN’S, 77-84—161
T63. RYAN GALLAGHER, ST. JOHN’S, 79-82—161
T68. DANIEL LUFTSPRING, MINN., 82-81—163
71. CHARLIE DUENSING, MINN., 87-80—167
72. AUSTIN KOTTKE, ST. JOHN’S, 83-86—169
T73. MITCH PFINGSTEN, ST. JOHN’S, 86-87—173