MARICOPA, Ariz. – Led by
Aston Castillo's top-five performance, the Shocker men's golf team collected an excellent ninth-place finish in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic on April 2 at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona.
The Shockers finished in ninth place in Arizona among a strong tournament field. The Shockers finished with a team score of 849, 15 strokes under-par. The Grand Canyon Lopes edged UNLV by two-strokes to win the team trophy at 31 strokes under-par and UNLV's Yuki Moriyama pulled away from the field late to win the individual title by five strokes with a score of 199, 17 strokes under-par.
Aston Castillo and
Blake Lorenz started the Shockers off strong in round one with a pair of top-20 performances. The pair accounted for 11 of the 19 Shocker birdies in the opening round.
ROUND ONE STANDINGS
t-10th
Aston Castillo: 68 (-4)
t-18th
Blake Lorenz: 69 (-3)
t-77th
Zach Sokolosky: 74 (+2)
t-77th
Michael Winslow: 74 (+2)
t-85th
Lucas Scheufler: 75 (+3)
Team: 12th, 285 (-3)
In round two, Castillo remained on fire, recording a birdie on three of his first five holes. His lone bogey of the round on hole six would be remedied shortly after with another birdie on hole nine. Shortly afterwards, lightning near the golf course would put a hiatus on the round with just a few holes left to play. The delay didn't slow down Castillo, as he went out and recorded one more birdie to finish four-under for the round and enter a tie for third with 18-holes left to play.
ROUND TWO STANDINGS
t-3rd
Aston Castillo: 68-68—136 (-8)
t-13th
Blake Lorenz: 69-70--139(-5)
t-63rd
Zach Sokolosky: 74-71--145 (+1)
t-76th
Michael Winslow: 74-73—147 (+3)
t-105th
Lucas Scheufler: 75-76--151 (+7)
Team: t-10th, 285-282—567 (-9)
As a team in round three, the Shockers bounced around between 10th and 12th place, before breaking through late to land in ninth.
Castillo pulled through with another solid round, as did Lorenz to pull the Shockers into the tournament top-10 as a team.
Castillo briefly fell out of the top-five after a bogey on hole ten, but he ended his round with a birdie to jump back into a tie for fourth.
The fourth-place finish for Castillo ties his career-best finish as a Shocker and it is his third time finishing in the top-five.
Lorenz continues to shine for the Shockers this year. His 13th place finish is his fifth time finishing in the top-20 of a tournament this year and he's been a top-15 finisher in three of the last four tournaments for the Shockers.
ROUND THREE STANDINGS (FINAL)
t-4th
Aston Castillo: 68-68-70—206 (-10)
t-13th
Blake Lorenz: 69-70-71—210 (-6)
t-45th
Zach Sokolosky: 74-71-70--215 (-1)
t-64th
Michael Winslow: 74-73-71—218 (+2)
t-110th
Lucas Scheufler: 75-76-77--228 (+12)
Team: 9th, 285-282-282—849 (-15)
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1st. Grand Canyon – 272-282-279--833 (-31)
2nd. UNLV – 275-284-276—835 (-29)
3rd. Iowa State – 278-280-278--836 (-28)
4th. USC – 280-274-284--838 (-26)
5th. CSU-Fullerton – 279-285-279—843 (-21)
6th. Long Beach State – 280-287-280—847 (-17)
t-7th. St. Mary's – 276-283-289—848 (-16)
t-7th. Kansas – 280-280-288--848 (-16)
9th. Wichita State – 285-282-282--849 (-15)
t-10th. Utah Valley – 282-285-286—853 (-11)
t-10th. Cal State – Northridge – 282-281-290—853 (-11)
12th. UT-Arlington – 287-278-291—856 (-8)
13th. Weber State – 290-288-281—859 (-5)
14th. Kennesaw State – 286-285-289—860 (-4)
15th. UC Davis – 290-288-284—862 (-2)
16th. Northern Colorado – 290-285-289—864 (E)
t-17th. Utah State – 296-288-281—865 (+1)
t-17th. UC-Irvine – 286-291-286—865 (+1)
19th. UTEP – 295-291-286—872 (+8)
20th. Air Force – 294-294-288—876 (+12)
21st. Wyoming – 293-292-292—877 (+13)
22nd. Hawaii – 291-295-302—888 (+24)
23rd. Southern Utah – 290-301-302—893 (+29)
The Shockers will now look to carry their success in the past two tournaments into their final regular season trip when they journey to Iowa City, Iowa, and Finkbine Golf Course to compete in the Hawkeye Invitational beginning on April 13.
