CANDLISH SHINES BEFORE DARKNESS STOPS PLAY AT FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC

3/8/2010

FRESNO, Calif. — The Sacramento State men's golf team sits in ninth place following the first day of the Fresno State Lexus Classic. The tournament was halted by darkness with each of the 16 teams still on the course in their second round. The event will conclude beginning at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Hornets shot 371 in the first round and were led by Kyle Candlish's even-par round of 71. Candlish was never more than 1-over or 1-under during the round, carding three birdies, 12 pars and three bogeys. He continued his hot play during the second round and is 2-under with three holes to play. Candlish is currently tied for third at 2-under and is three strokes behind the lead of Pepperdine's Andrew Putnam.

Grant Rappleye is second on the team at 3-over. Rappleye had an adventurous first round which began with a par, double-bogey and bogey in his first three holes. He dropped back to even with three straight birdies but finished with just one more compared to four pars. In the late round, Rappleye opeend with six straight pars and was 1-under through his first nine holes. His next six included two birdies, two pars and three bogeys. He has two holes remaining.

The Fresno State Lexus Classic uses a unique scoring format which has each team count five of their six players — most collegiate events are four of five. In the first round, the Hornets also counted a 74 from Jake Pineo, a 75 from Nick Neal and a 77 from Jake Johnson.

Sixth-ranked Washington has overcome an 8-stroke deficit to take a one stroke lead over Pepperdine. Washington shot 363 in the first round and were 4-under when play was halted. Michigan (+10), BYU (+11) and San Diego (+12) complete the top five.

The 16-team field features seven teams ranked among the top 45 in Div. I, including third-ranked Oregon which is sixth at plus-18.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Washington +4
2. Pepperdine +5
3. Michigan +10
4. BYU +11
5. San Diego +12
6. Oregon +18
T7. California +24
T7. UC Irvine +24
9. SACRAMENTO STATE +27
T10. Fresno State +28
T10. Pacific _28
12. Nevada +38
13. Cal Poly +39
T14. Saint Mary's +40
T14. Kansas State +40
16. San Jose State +42

INDIVIDUAL TOP FIVE
1. Andrew Putnam, PEP, -5
2. Richard Lee, UW, -4
T3. Kyle Candlish, SAC, -2
T3. Brady Johnson, BYU, -2
T3. Eugene Wong, ORE, -2

SACRAMENTO STATE SCORES
T3. Kyle Candlsh -2
T25. Grant Rappleye +3
T55. Nick Neal +8
T55. Jake Johnson +8
T70. Jake Pineo +10
T93. Cameron Rappleye +16