Lopes complete Mark Simpson Invitational

Monday, October 2

Boulder, Colo. | Boulder Country Club

Grand Canyon

Mark Simpson Invitational

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

10/2/2023 6:38:00 PM | Men's Golf

RESULTS

GCU moves up to tie for 10th out of 17 schools in Colorado tournament

By: Nick Macdonald

ERIE, Colo. – The Grand Canyon men's golf team completed the Mark Simpson Invitational at the Colorado National Golf Club, carding a team score of 15 over par on to tie for 10th place.

San Francisco took home the team title at 19 under. Host school Colorado placed second at 17 under while UTEP and Colorado State tied for third at 10 under par.

GCU jumped two spots from Monday's second-round finish and tied with Valparaiso for 10th. Senior Nicky Kling led the Lopes at 1 over, totaling two birdies Tuesday and was 9 over for 54 holes. He shot 1 over in the third and final round and finished the with six pars and a birdie over his final seven holes.

Lopes senior Tommaso Zorzetto finished one stroke behind Kling at 2 over and finished tied for 35th. Zorzetto had two birdies and shot 2 over for his final round of play. The duo of Kling and Zorzetto had 19 of the team's 37 birdies for the two-day tournament.

GCU senior Matthew Pennington finished 4 over par and tied for 48th place, while freshman teammate Gavin O'Neill tied for 61st at 8 over and junior teammate Josh McCabe placed 94th at 19 over.

The Lopes are back in action on Oct. 16 for the three-day Visit Stockton Invitational, a tournament that the Lopes won last season. Competition will be held at The Reserve at Spanos Park.

Day 1 recap

GCU concluded day one of the Mark Simpson Invitational Monday afternoon, carding a 36-hole, seven over scorecard and is tied for 12th with 18 holes to play.

The 17-team field is competing at the Colorado National Golf Club, with Monday's round a par 72, 7,782-yard course.

San Francisco leads the field at 18 under, followed by second place UTEP (11 under) and both Nevada and Colorado State (10 under) holding third place.

Kling and Zorzetto are tied for 30th at even par. The two combined for 13 birdies as GCU registered 26 birdies as a team. Both golfers tallied three birdies each over their final 10 holes of the second round.

Pennington is tied for 40th at one over. He totaled three birdies for the day and had 15 pars over the course of his second round, including 10 straight over his final 10 holes. O'Neill is tied for 73rd at six over and McCabe is 97th at 15 over.