RESULTS

ERIE, Colo. -- Senior Sam Stewart led the Towson men's golf team during the 5th annual Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, which concluded on Tuesday afternoon.

Originally scheduled to be a 54-hole event, severe storms in the Erie, Colorado area forced the players off the course on Monday and the event became a 36-hole tournament.

In an 18-team field that featured eight nationally-ranked teams, the Tigers finished in ninth place with a 588 (289-299). Towson finished 10 strokes ahead of No. 70 McNeese State.

"We're continuing to improve while paying really hard golf courses that are challenging the guys," said Towson Head Coach Brian Yaniger. "I wouldn't say that we've turned a corner, but it's going in the right direction. We're starting to play near our ability and getting closer to our potential."

Stewart opened the tournament with a 2-under 70, his second best round of the season. He entered the last round tied for eighth-place in the 96-player field. After carding a 1-over 73 in the second round, Stewart finished in a tie for 15th.

Sophomore James Grem fired a career-low 71 during the first round before finishing with a 77 on day two to finish tied for 39th. Classmate Juan Veloza shot 150 (75-75) to finish 52nd. Junior Alex Church rebounded from an 80 on Monday to post a career-best round of 74 on Tuesday.

"This was a really good tournament for us," said Yaniger. "It's the third of the three really competitive fields that we've played in and I think we're heading in the right direction. Juan finished his last three holes at 2-under and Alex shot a 74, which shows that he's moving in the right direction. Of course we wanted to finish better, but this is really a positive event for us."

No. 20 Colorado (556) won the event by 12 strokes over San Diego (568). No. 39 Denver (569), No. 110 Missouri-Kansas City (574), No. 108 Utah State (579) and Houston Baptist (579) rounded out the top five. Colorado's David Oraee carded a 13-under 131 (64-67) to take home medalist honors.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday at The Macdonald Cup, hosted by Yale.


-TowsonTigers.com-