FORT COLLINS, Colo.- Junior Enrique Marin carried the momentum of last week's torrid finish into a strong start Monday, at the Ram Masters Invitational. Marin led Idaho men's golf with a 2-over par (70-72) effort in the first two rounds on the tournament's opening day at the Fort Collins Country Club. The Vandals ended the day in a tie for 18th place at 36-over. Host Colorado State leads the tournament at 12-under, the only team under par through two rounds.

"I was very proud of Enrique," said head coach David Nuhn. "All in all, I felt like he made putts when he needed to and he played solid. This is a really good, really deep field and he's right in the thick of it. I look forward to him having a good round tomorrow."

Marin played the majority of his first round under par. A bogey on his penultimate hole brought him back to even for the round, which included three birdies. Marin returned in the afternoon to shoot a 72, including another bogey on the same second-to-last hole. This time he responded with a birdie on his final hole. His 2-over score puts him in a tie for 19th heading into the third round.

Freshman Adam Veenstra turned in an 8-over par performance across Monday's two rounds (76-72), good for second best by a Vandal. Veenstra, coming off a top-20 finish in his collegiate debut last week, stumbled at the end of each round. He played holes seven through 11 as his final five holes and combined to shoot 8-over on those 10 holes throughout the two rounds. Hayden Ritter (12-over, 73-79) contributed to the team score in both rounds, while Thomas Ethan Atherstone (15-over, 79-76) and Cole Chrisman (21-over, 78-83) each counted one round toward the team total.

"Today was a good learning experience," said Nuhn. "This was really the first test on unfamiliar territory for a lot of our guys. The first go around with learning the humps and the bumps of a new course during a college tournament."

The Vandals will begin the final round Tuesday, at 8:35 a.m. MT, starting on the back nine.

"We're going to have to go out and shoot a good round tomorrow. I think we can move up closer to the middle of the pack. We're not that far out from moving up the leaderboard and we're certainly not that far off from playing well enough to do so. We have to go out and shoot four good rounds and we'll see where we finish."