Jan. 30, 2016 The University of Denver men's golf team wrapped up its opening tournament of the spring portion of its 2015-16 schedule on Saturday, playing the final 20 holes of the 2016 Arizona Intercollegiate at Tucson's Sewailo Golf Club after play was suspended early on Friday due to darkness. After firing a 315 in Round 1 of the event, the Pioneers lowered their score in each of the subsequent two rounds - shooting a 297 in Round 2 and a 295 in Round 3 to move up from 16th to 13th place in the talent-laden field. Click HERE to view complete tournament scoring courtesy of BirdieFire.
"I'm pleased with how we bounced back after a disappointing opening round," says DU head coach Erik Billinger. "We came close to showing our full potential on Saturday but a few mistakes held us back from turning in a really low team score. The pins were in very difficult spots here all weekend long so club selection and course management were of tremendous importance and that's something we'll focus on improving as a group moving forward. Overall, this tournament was a great experience for us and we've got a lot of positives to take from the trip in addition to having obtained a better understanding of what we need to work on in order to put ourselves in position to be successful late in the season."
Individually, junior Petter Mikalsen (Stavanger, Norway) posted the Pios' lowest score at Sewailo, firing rounds of 76, 71 and 74 on the Par 71, 7262-yard course to finish the event in a tie for 23rd place with a score of 221 (+8). Billinger was pleased with how the reigning Summit League Golfer of the Year performed in Tucson.
"Petter played really well and showed us lots of good stuff this week which was great to see," says the second-year coach. "All five of our competitors had good runs at various points in the tournament so hopefully we can build on that moving forward."
The Pioneers will next compete at the Desert Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. during the third week of February. Denver's complete 2015-16 schedule can be viewed by clicking HERE.
