“Moving Day” for Griggs of Denver & Team Kansas in 2nd Round of Kā‘anapali Classic

It’s often said in golf that day two is “moving day” and there was quite a bit of movement on the leaderboard, Saturday. Carson Griggs of Denver shot an impressive 62 (-9) on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course to move up 12 spots going into the final round at 130 (-12). Team Kansas shot 262 (-22) to take the team lead at 530 which is 16 strokes ahead of team Colorado.

“Griggs was on fire on the front nine and carded five birdies and an eagle on the first hole,” according to a tournament update. Denver Coach Logan Goulding said, “Carson played amazing today. His iron play was awesome, gave himself a ton of great looks and it was just one of those days where everything seemed to go in. He’s been working extremely hard all fall and it’s nice to see him get rewarded.”

This is Griggs’ senior year at Denver and has been named to the Summit League Academic All-League Team twice as well as the Summit Golfer of the week on several occasions. He’ll have to keep firing on Sunday as CSUN’s Nick Fowlkes and Loyola Maryland’s Brandon Berry are hot on his heels, just one stroke back.

Nick Fowlkes and Brandon Berry are both T2 at 131 (-11). Fowlkes, a freshman at CSUN had a colorful card Saturday, posting two eagles which included a hole out from the fairway on No. 13 and a combination of birdies and bogeys to finish out at 65 (-6) and 131 for the 36 holes. CSUN moved up four spots to take third position heading into the final round, Sunday.

Head Golf Coach for CSUN, Jim Bracken said, “Both Nick and Felix shot 66 today which is great. Nick has posted three consecutive rounds in the mid-60’s (came off a 64 last week also) – he has a really good demeanor out on the course – laid back and just really enjoys playing golf.” Bracken added about Felix, “He is a great ball striker – he made 17 greens in regulation today and even with that, he said to me that he feels like he missed some putts and could have done better.”

As a team, CSUN tied their single round record at -15 on Saturday, which is a record going back 31 years and they’re hoping to beat it on Sunday.

Loyola’s Berry eagled the first hole today and shot 66 (-5). Berry was named to the PING All-Northeast Region Team in 2019-2020. Berry’s team dropped one place to 5 th after 36 holes at Ka’anapali. Loyola Head Coach Chris Baloga commented on the team results, “We hung in there today; it was not our best, but we posted a decent number and have a good chance to move up the leaderboard in the final round.”

Five of Kansas’ six players shot under par on Saturday on the Royal Kāʻanapali Course. Ben Sigel who struggled on the first round yesterday shot a 64 (-7) today to shoot up the ranks and into T16 position at 138 (-4) going into the final round. Teammates Davis Cooper and Harry Hillier are T5 at 133 (-9) and also Luke Kluver and Callum Bruce are T9 at 134 (-8). There are quite a few others tied up in the top 13 positions so it’s still anybody’s game heading into Sunday’s final round.

Colorado’s team moved up to second position today with a 275 (-9) totaling 546 for 36-holes heading into the final round. Head Golf Coach Roy Edwards commented, “Really good round from Kris (Max). He was spectacular all day. The wind kicked up our last 5-6 holes and the guys did a nice job of battling to the end to get us into 2nd. Other than Kris, we didn’t start out our best so to be able to still grind out a decent round was impressive by everyone.  We have a big deficit between us and Kansas but a win for sure isn’t out of reach. We need to go out and play our own games tomorrow.”

Hawaiʻi’s Head Golf Coach, Scott Simpson comments on the tournament, “What a thrill for the University of Hawaiʻi to host the Kāʻanapali Classic for the 7th year.   This is my first year heading up the Men’s team but I was able to come last year as the Women’s assistant coach. The golf course is in fantastic shape and all the teams are raving about the course and the event.   It is a course where you can make birdies, but only if you hit good shots and can navigate the greens.   With the slopes on the greens and being on the side of the mountain there can be some really tricky putts.   Ka’anapali really makes the players think about strategy.   The greens make the players think hard about where they want to land their ball and where you want to putt from.”  

Simpson added, “As good as the course is, what really makes this tournament special is the fantastic hospitality we get from everyone here at Kāʻanapali.   They make us all feel welcome and the tournament could not be run any better. Everyone here is so happy they came and is already making sure they are invited back for next year.”

Other notable rounds today: Wyoming’s Jimmy Dales moved up 25 spots with a 63 (-8) today and will be in T5 heading into tomorrow; Quim Vidal Mora of Nevada shot 67 (-4) to move up four spots to T9. Jared Nelson of UConn shot 68 (-3) to stay in 13 th place; Host team Hawaii’s Kanata Irei shot 69 (-2) and shares T14 with Hugo Townsend who held the lead after 18-holes; Sacramento State’s Riley Bell and Blaze Akana are T26 with a few others; Gonzaga’s lead player Charlie Magruder shot 73 (+2) today and is T36; United States Air Force Freshman Cameron Kahle played even par and is T53.

The seventh annual 54-hole, individual and team stroke-play tournament features the men’s teams from Boise, CSUN, Colorado, Connecticut, Denver, Gonzaga, Hawaii-Manoa (host), Kansas, Loyola Maryland, Nevada, Sacramento State, US Air Force Academy and Wyoming.