NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. – Following 36 holes of play on Monday at the UNO Invitational, the Nicholls State University men's golf team is in eighth place out of 12 teams.
 
The Colonels started the day with a 307 in the opening round before shaving off 10 strokes in the second 18 to climb up from 10th in the standing to eighth (604). Freshman Jack Lee led the team with a 1-over 145 after 36 holes to finish in a tie for seventh in the individual standings, carding rounds of 74 (+2) and 71 (-1).
 
"Despite how young our team is, I was very impressed with how we played today," Nicholls head coach James Schilling said. "At one point in the second round, we had the lowest score ever as a team since I've been here. We struggled a little bit to close out today, but I'm expecting us to improve in tomorrow's final round"
 
Lee made his first collegiate birdie on hole 10 in the first round and followed up with another one on 11. He closed out the round with five pars, a bogey and a double bogey to end at 2-over. In the second round, he added three more birdies on the front to shoot a 2-under and then drained one of the Colonels' two eagles of the day, carding a three on a par 5 on hole 10. A double bogey on 18 put Lee at 1-under for the round and 1-over for the day.
 
Sophomores Tye Smith and Albert Badosa-Soler finished second and third for the Colonels after carding scores of 151 and 152, respectively. Smith birdied two of his first three holes in the opening round, but ended with a 77 (+5). He added three more birdies in the second round and finished with a 74 (+2). After shooting a 79 in the first round, Badosa eagled hole 1 with a three. He added two birdies, but three bogeys and a double put him at 73 (+1) for the round.
 
Rounding out the competitors for Nicholls were Josh Fullilove (77-79—156) and Ludovico Durante (79-87—166). Fullilove had six birdies on the day, while Durante sank four – all in the first round.
 
Iowa Western leads all teams with a 574, while Joe Duchateau (Green Bay) and Iowa Western's Alister Balcmombe are tied for the lead at 137 (-2).
 
Tuesday's final round action will begin at 8 a.m. Live stats are available here.