The Richmond Spiders men’s golf team moved into a tie for second place at the Atlantic 10 Championship on April 28 after shooting a combined seven-under par in the tournament’s second round. The team’s performance, which was the lowest round of the day by six strokes, brought their total to one-over par (577), tying them with VCU and trailing only George Mason in the twelve-team field.
This result is significant as it places Richmond within reach of a conference title heading into the final round. Strong individual performances contributed to this standing, with freshman Lucas Rizo-Patron leading all players at seven-under par (137) after sinking an eight-foot birdie putt on the eighteenth hole to finish his round at three-under (69). Rizo-Patron now holds a one-shot lead over VCU’s Carson Looney and is four shots ahead of other competitors. Richmond’s last conference championship medalist was Danny Pizetoski in 2014.
Carson Baez improved on his opening-round score by carding a three-under-par 69 in Round 2, moving up fifteen spots on the leaderboard and tying for twelfth place overall at even par (144). Baez recorded four birdies and just one bogey during his round. Teammate Quin Polin is currently tied for eighth place after shooting a one-under-par 71, using four birdies to counterbalance two bogeys.
Junior Jack LaPiana made significant progress from Monday’s play, finishing his final fifteen holes in three-under-par en route to a score of seventy-two—nine shots better than his previous round. Senior Drew Carlin was added to the lineup before Round 2 and responded with an even-par seventy-two that included three birdies.
Richmond leads all teams with thirty-eight birdies through two rounds. The Spiders will compete alongside VCU and George Mason in Wednesday’s third and final round, starting from the first tee at 8:15 AM.
