Red Raiders surge to sixth after 36 holes at Ben Hogan Collegiate

No. 5 Texas Tech surged up the leaderboard Monday at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational, moving from 11th after the opening round to sixth after carding a 1-under 279 in the second round at Colonial Country Club. The Red Raiders’ second-round score tied for the lowest in the loaded 16-team field, which features 14 teams ranked in the top 25. Texas Tech finished the opening 36 holes at 7-over 567.

Adam Bresnu paced the Red Raiders and enters Tuesday’s final round in a four-way tie for first at 4-under 136. Bresnu carded rounds of 1-under 69 and 3-under 67 to put himself in position for his first Division I individual title. Bresnu was particularly strong on Colonial’s front nine, finishing the day with a cumulative 4-under score without a bogey on the opening nine in either round. His three bogeys Monday all came on the back nine, where he also recorded three birdies.

Just 13 players in the 80-player field posted an under-par second round, with three Red Raiders accounting for three of those scores. Along with Bresnu’s 3-under 67, Ben Gregg and Tim Wiedemeyer each shot 1-under 69 in the second round.

Gregg moved into a tie for 18th at 2-over 142 after rounds of 73 and 69, while Wiedemeyer is tied for 27th at 3-over 143 after carding rounds of 74 and 69. Simon Hovdal is tied for 61st at 8-over 148 after consecutive rounds of 74, while Connor Graham is tied for 67th at 9-over 149 following rounds of 72 and 77.

No. 1 Auburn leads the team leaderboard at 6-under 554, followed by No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 North Carolina, which are tied for second at 4-under 556. No. 10 Vanderbilt is fourth at 2-under 558, while No. 8 Texas is fifth at 3-over 563, four strokes ahead of the Red Raiders.

The final round is scheduled to begin at 7:48 a.m. Tuesday, with tee times starting on Nos. 1 and 10 at 12-minute intervals. Graham will be the first Red Raider to tee off at 7:48 a.m. from No. 1, while Bresnu will be the final Texas Tech golfer to begin at 8:36 a.m.

Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational Team Leaderboard (Rounds 1-2 Results)
1. No.1 Auburn: 274-280=554 (-6)
T-2. No. 11 Alabama: 274-282=556 (-4)
T-2. No. 14 North Carolina: 271-285=556 (-4)
4. No. 10 Vanderbilt: 279-279=558 (-2)
5. No. 8 Texas: 280-283=563 (+3)
6. No. 5 Texas Tech: 288-279=567 (+7)
7. TCU: 282-288=570 (+10)
8. No. 23 UCLA: 279-294=573 (+13)
9. No. 2 Oklahoma State: 276-298=574 (+14)
10. No. 18 Oklahoma: 288-287=575 (+15)
T-11. No. 12 Georgia: 288-288=576 (+16)
T-11. No. 9 Georgia Tech: 287-289=576 (+16)
13. Virginia: 285-297=582 (+22)
14. No. 21 Pepperdine: 298-286=584 (+24)
15. No. 20 Stanford: 292-295=587 (+27)
16. No. 3 Arizona State: 297-293=590 (+30)

Red Raiders in the Field (Rounds 1-2 Results)
T-1. Adam Bresnu: 69-67=136 (-4)
T-18. Ben Gregg: 73-69=142 (+2)
T-27. Tim Wiedemeyer: 74-69=143 (+3)
T-61. Simon Hovdal: 74-74=148 (+8)
T-67. Connor Graham: 72-77=149 (+9)