Boje carded a first-round 66 in Monday’s Preserve Golf Club Collegiate at the Preserve Golf Course in Carmel, totaling eight birdies to just two bogeys for a 6-under round. Boje is on pace for another sub-70 score in Round 2 with one hole to play as second-round play was halted Monday due to darkness. He is second overall and looking for his first top-10 placement of the season.
GCU is second overall at 23 under, trailing only BYU’s 26-under score at the top. BYU entered the tournament ranked 25th in the nation, joining Long Beach State (No. 32) and California (No. 48) as three nationally ranked entrants.
The Lopes showed out in both rounds Monday, tallying a score of 8 under in Round 1 and shooting 15 under in Round 2 with a handful of holes to complete Tuesday, when play will resume at 8:30 a.m.
Boje’s birdie count is at 15 for the tournament, tied with two other players for best among the field. The Stetson transfer is averaging a 2.63 score on par-3 holes, tying him for the top spot among 68 golfers.
Joining the fold for impressive rounds Monday was GCU sophomore Matthew Diehl and junior teammate Gavin O’Neill, who are tied for 11th at 5 under par. Diehl shot a 2-under 70 in Round 1 and is 3 under with one hole to play in his second round, a round that saw three birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 571-yard 13th hole. Diehl’s consistent play includes 26 pars, most among all golfers.
O’Neill made the biggest jump for the team, going 1 over in Round 1 with four birdies and an eagle to 6 under in Round 2. He has one hole to play, a par 4, to which a birdie would give him the single-round best score for the squad. O’Neill is bogey free with six birdies in the second round.
Four Lopes are in the top 20, rounded out by freshman Daniel Nilsson in 19th. Nilsson is 4 under with five birdies and a 3-under scorecard in the second round, but he has one hole remaining.
GCU sophomore Erik Rengardt is 56th at 4 over, tallying 14 pars in the second round with two holes remaining. Lopes classmate Campbell Kerr is 42nd as an individual entry and is having a career second round, notching six birdies and a 56 with three holes left.
GCU is in the top five in scoring on par-three, -four and -five holes. The Lopes’ 103 pars rank as the second most, followed by the fourth-most birdies with 43.
The second round will finish Tuesday morning, followed by the third and final round of the fall season.
