Men Off to Hot Start in Reno

RENO, Nev. ? After finishing in a tie for second at the Kansas Invitational in mid-September, the Iowa State men's golf team continued to move forward as it finished runner-up in an 18-team field after two rounds of action Monday at the Wolf Pack Classic.

Rodney Hamblin and Cameron White set personal records as the Cyclones only trail the University of Utah by two strokes and finished 12-under par as a team. Hamblin and White registered two-round scores of 140 (-4) and currently stand in a tie for eighth place. Dustin Pimm (Utah) leads all individuals after two impressive rounds of 66 and has a three-stroke margin over runner-up Nick Travers from Boise St.

Hamblin was on fire in the first round of action, eclipsing his career-best round of 18 by firing a 68. The St. Paul, Minn., native shot a 69 at the Pioneer Classic as a junior during the spring. The senior also set his personal-best round of 54 in his first event this fall at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational. Hamblin came into the Wolf Pack Classic second on the team in stroke average with a 73.16 mark through six rounds of play.

White, coming off the best tournament of his young career at the Kansas Invitational, set his career-low round the same time as Hamblin, firing a 69 in the first round. The freshman from Plymouth, Minn., finished 14^th in Lawrence, Kan., after finishing in a tie for 16^th after two rounds at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.

Joe Cermak, the team's leading stroke average leader coming into the Wolf Pack Classic, is currently in a tie for 11^th with eight other competitors. Cermak will be gunning for his fifth career top-10 finish.

Chris Baker is in a tie for 31^st along with teammate Johnny Larson, seeing his first action of the season after competing in all 13 events last year. Larson is competing independently and tied his career-low round of 70 in the second round for the fourth time in his Cyclone career.

Cedric Bertin, a junior college All-American transfer from Kirkwood Community College, is tied for 66^th after carding a two-round score of 150.

ISU led the field after the first round, shooting a 279, four strokes better than the Utes.

The final action will begin tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

ISU Scores

T8. ? Rodney Hamblin ? (68-72--140)

T8. ? Cameron White ? (69-71--140)

T11. ? Joe Cermak ? (71-71--142)

T31 ? Chris Baker ? (74-71--145)

T31* - Johnny Larson ? (75-70--145)

T66 ? Cedric Bertin ? (71-79--150)

Team Scoring

1. ? Utah

2. ? Iowa State

3. ? Boise State

4. ? Denver

5. ? Nevada

6. ? Colorado State

7. ? UT-Arlington

8. ? Hawaii

8. ? Air Force

10. ? New Mexico State

11. ? Kansas State

12. ? Arkansas

12. ? Fresno State

14. ? UTEP

15. ? Louisiana-Monroe

16. ? Gonzaga

17. ? Southern Utah

18. ? Wyoming

Individual Scoring

1. Dustin Pimm (Utah) ? (66-66--132)

2. Nick Travers (Boise State) ? (68-67--135)

3. Zen Brown (Colorado State) ? (67-70--137)

4. David McKendrick (ULM) ? (70-68--138)

Nic Larson (Utah) ? (71-67--138)

Espen Kofstad (Denver) ? (67-71--138)

Players Mentioned

Chris Baker

Cedric Bertin

Joe Cermak

Rodney Hamblin

Johnny Larson

Cameron White

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics