SAN MARCOS, Calif. --- After a few month away from competitive tournaments the Biola Men's Golf team returned to action on Monday for rounds one and two at the CSU San Marcos Fujikura Invitational.
 
The Eagles shot nearly identical rounds to finish the first two-thirds of the tournament with a 657 (328-329) to sit in 14^th place overall.
 
The Fujikura Invitational featured a team filled with primarily NCAA Division II teams, a handful of NAIA teams and a couple more Division III teams.
 
"It was cold, windy, and raining. It's hard to make a swing when you can't feel your fingers and grip the club confidently," said Head Coach Max Allen.
 
It was an up and down day for most of the Eagles as all but one student-athlete had at least a three stroke difference between their first and second rounds.
 
Austin Bishop was the one guy with similar scores from the first round to the second. He shot an 81 in the first 18 holes and followed it up with a 79 in round two. His 160 (+16) has him sitting tied for 44^th overall in the 78-man field.
 
Bishop's 79 was the lowest round of the day for the Eagles. It was one stroke lower than the 80 shot by Kaden Page and Samuel Shih in their second rounds.
 
Page, Shih and Bishop were the three Eagles to drop strokes between rounds one and two. Dominic Ariondo and Kyle McAbee went the other way as both had their better round in the morning. The pair both shot 82 in the opening round.
 
Ariondo and Shih were both battling injuries throughout the day, but they worked through and did they best they could to put up good scores for the team.  McAbee, who is usually among the top one or two Eagles to score, had the worst weather of all and battled through. He should see some big improvement when things clear up tomorrow.
 
Things are looking up if all five men can put it together tomorrow in the third round. Every Biola student-athlete had at least one round of 82 or below, which was the team average for the day.
 
"Despite the substandard play and some bad luck I know we'll bounce back," said Allen. "We still need to grow in mentally handling challenges that come up mid-round; however, the guys are exceptional at letting bad days roll off their shoulders. There will be no thoughts of today's performance on tomorrow's tee box."
 
CSU Monterey Bay is leading the tournament with a total score of 580. The Eagles are within striking distance of a top-10 finish with a good round on Tuesday. Biola is just 24 strokes behind the 10^th place team, Redlands.
 
The competition concludes on Tuesday, with the final 18 holes beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 p.m.