The Chico State men’s golf team had its least successful opening day Oct. 17 at the Otter Invitational, after shooting 23-over par to place 12th.

The team has maintained an almost perfect record this year, with two first-place finishes and one second-place finish. The Wildcats have not failed to crack the top five in a tournament this season.

The ‘Cats won the tournament last year after shooting 15-under par. Chico State lost the majority of its members who competed in the tournament last season except for junior Colby Dean and sophomore Serge Kiriluk.

Sophomore TJ Katherineberg was removed from the starting five because of an illness. Losing one of their starting members hurt the Wildcats overall score in the tournament.

The difficulty the team faced in the tournament is the result of its poor first round with a stroke total of 307. Although the ‘Cats shaved off ten strokes in the second round, their score ranked them sixth among other teams.

Dean was the only player to crack the top 25 for the team placing 24th with a 148 stroke total. A 70 in the first round gave Dean an early lead in the tournament, but the second round added eight strokes to his game.

A stroke total of 78 is the highest Dean has shot in a single round this season, with his previous record at 76 in the Interwest Insurance Wildcat Classic.

Chico State trails 11th place Cal Baptist by 3 strokes and is 29 strokes away from the tournament’s leader Nova Southeastern.

The team returns to the field Oct. 18 to play the third round of the tournament and attempt to defend its title in the Otter Invitational.

Jordan Jarrell can be reached at [email protected] or @ChicoOrionJJ on Twitter.