BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – The Ave Maria Men's Golf showed out at the OUAZ Invitational March 2 and 3, placing second among 10 teams and having three players finish in the top 10. Ave Maria opened the tournament with an impressive first round and held off their opponents in the second round.

Matt Mullen led the team on Monday with a season-low 70 in the opening round. Mullen birdied his first two holes to start the day and never went back over par. He added three more birdies by the end of the round, ending the day with a season-high five red circles.

Daniel Nycum also had a strong first round, shooting 1-over-par. Nycum carded three birdies during the round, tying a season-high for him. Alex Veneziano finished third on the card for the Gyrenes with a 76 and Ty Kaufman rounded out the group with an 81. Both also logged three birdies across the round.

Ave Maria finished second after the first round. They were one stroke ahead of third place Park-Gilbert and six strokes behind the leader Linfield.

The second round was tougher for the entire tournament as the average team score rose from 26-over-par to 45-over-par. Still, the Gyrenes held steady and retained their second place standing as a team. The Gyrenes made up five strokes on Linfield but finished the tournament still a stroke behind the Wildcats.

Nycum and Kaufman both shot 8-over-par in the second round to lead the team. Kaufman led the team with three birdies on Tuesday while Nycum carded just one. Mullen and Veneziano tied as well and were just a stroke behind the first pair at 9-over-par. Mullen logged two birdies on Tuesday to bring his tournament total up to seven while Veneziano logged one birdie on the eighth hole.

In field of 59 golfers, Mullen finished second with a final score of 7-over-par. It is his first top-five finish of the year and his second top-10 finish in a row. It is Mullen's first top-five finish since the 2023-24 season.

Two more Gyrenes joined him in the top-10 with Nycum finishing tied for third at 9-over-par and Veneziano tied for 10^th at 13-over-par. It is the highest finish of the season for Nycum and tied for the highest finish for Veneziano.

Kaufman finished tied for 21^st at 17-over-par. Neal Wheeler, who finished fifth for Ave Maria in both rounds, ended the tournament tied for 40^th at 25-over-par.

The Gyrenes are back on the links March 8-10 as they compete in the Kona Ice Keiser Kip at the Okeeheelee Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Three other Sun Conference teams will compete in the tournament including New College of Florida, St. Thomas and host Keiser.