Upcoming Event: Men's Golf at William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on September 19, 2025
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at William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
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Lopes crack top 5 after 12-under Day 1 in Maricopa
3/31/2025 7:58:00 PM | Men's Golf
GCU puts 4 players under par before darkness halted play Monday
MARICOPA, Ariz. – Grand Canyon's name is near the top of the leaderboard in a stacked field at the Cowboy Classic in Maricopa, carding a 12-under-par score to be fifth after Day 1 at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club.
Play was halted due to darkness at 6:50 p.m., with most teams getting through 12-15 holes of the second round. Round 2 will resume Tuesday morning, followed by the third round's final 18 holes.
GCU's 12 under is tied with Wichita State in the fifth-place position, trailing third-place Pacific by one stroke. Iowa State leads the 23-team field at 23 under, followed by Long Beach State at 21 under.
Playing the course for the second time this season, the "home course" advantage certainly showed with 116 pars, the most of any team in the field. The Lopes shot 3 under on par-4 holes, second best behind Iowa State.
GCU graduate Tommaso Zorzetto and senior Kiko Coelho lead the squad at 3 under each, tied for 17th out of 120 golfers. Zorzetto shot 3 under in the first round, notching two birdies, an eagle and one bogey. He was even par in round two when play was halted, starting his second round with eight pars and two birdies over first 10 holes.
Coelho shot 1 under in the first round with three birdies and jumped out the gates in the second round, wiping away a bogey on his first hole with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. Coelho is 2 under for his in-progress second round and holds the team's lowest partial second-round score (55).
Lopes freshman Matthew Diehl is one shot back of Zorzetto and Coelho at 2 under and is tied for 27th. Diehl was nearly blemish free through his 33 holes, tallying only one bogey and three birdies. Diehl is 1 over in round two, rallying off 13 straight pars at one point over his partial round.
GCU sophomore Gavin O'Neill is tied for 34th at 1 under, going 2 under in the first round and 1 over so far in the second round. O'Neill has seven birdies, tied with Coelho for most on the squad with a team-high five in the first round.
Lopes freshman Nixon Lauritzen is tied for 41st with a 2-over card, bouncing back from a 2-over first round with a 2-under start to the second round. He has four birdies so far in round two, three of which came in a five-hole stretch, and has three holes left for the round.
GCU has scored its best on the back nine of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, tallying 16 of its 28 birdies and adding an eagle.
Four WAC teams are competing in the tournament, serving as a mini-tuneup for the WAC Championship in Payson, Arizona, on April 25-27. GCU leads all conference competition, followed by Utah Valley (1 under), UT Arlington (15 over) and Southern Utah (30 over).
Tournament results can be found here.
Play was halted due to darkness at 6:50 p.m., with most teams getting through 12-15 holes of the second round. Round 2 will resume Tuesday morning, followed by the third round's final 18 holes.
GCU's 12 under is tied with Wichita State in the fifth-place position, trailing third-place Pacific by one stroke. Iowa State leads the 23-team field at 23 under, followed by Long Beach State at 21 under.
Playing the course for the second time this season, the "home course" advantage certainly showed with 116 pars, the most of any team in the field. The Lopes shot 3 under on par-4 holes, second best behind Iowa State.
GCU graduate Tommaso Zorzetto and senior Kiko Coelho lead the squad at 3 under each, tied for 17th out of 120 golfers. Zorzetto shot 3 under in the first round, notching two birdies, an eagle and one bogey. He was even par in round two when play was halted, starting his second round with eight pars and two birdies over first 10 holes.
Coelho shot 1 under in the first round with three birdies and jumped out the gates in the second round, wiping away a bogey on his first hole with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. Coelho is 2 under for his in-progress second round and holds the team's lowest partial second-round score (55).
Lopes freshman Matthew Diehl is one shot back of Zorzetto and Coelho at 2 under and is tied for 27th. Diehl was nearly blemish free through his 33 holes, tallying only one bogey and three birdies. Diehl is 1 over in round two, rallying off 13 straight pars at one point over his partial round.
GCU sophomore Gavin O'Neill is tied for 34th at 1 under, going 2 under in the first round and 1 over so far in the second round. O'Neill has seven birdies, tied with Coelho for most on the squad with a team-high five in the first round.
Lopes freshman Nixon Lauritzen is tied for 41st with a 2-over card, bouncing back from a 2-over first round with a 2-under start to the second round. He has four birdies so far in round two, three of which came in a five-hole stretch, and has three holes left for the round.
GCU has scored its best on the back nine of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, tallying 16 of its 28 birdies and adding an eagle.
Four WAC teams are competing in the tournament, serving as a mini-tuneup for the WAC Championship in Payson, Arizona, on April 25-27. GCU leads all conference competition, followed by Utah Valley (1 under), UT Arlington (15 over) and Southern Utah (30 over).
Tournament results can be found here.
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