GOODYEAR, Arizona -- Perfect conditions and getting golf course combined to produce a multitude of low scores Monday in the Ruidoso Junior Golf Association's Palm Valley Golf Classic.

Midwestern State's Seth Bearden took full advantage, carding scores of 66 and 67 for an 11-under total of 133 to settle into a tie at the top of the individual leader board with Fort Lewis' Ron Kildall (66-67) and Western New Mexico's Adam Niles (67-66).

"That golf course is pretty open and most of the Par 5s are reachable in two. It's basically a par-69 course," MSU coach Jeff Ray said.

Bearden worked for an eagle and two birdies on par-5s, while also logging birdies on a pair of par-3s to go along with another birdie on a par-4 to card a 6-under 66 in the opening round.

"You have to make birdies out here," Ray said. "The par-3s are tough, but if you get through those then you are in pretty good shape. The weather was basically perfect, so it was a go-low day, for sure."

Bearden produced a bogey-free second round with birdies on four par-5s and added a fifth birdie on a par-4 to finish with a 5-under 67.

"What a great day of golf he had," Ray said. "He is flighting the ball like he wants to. He is really working the golf ball. He is so in control of his game. Keeping the momentum going in golf is huge. It was really impressive to watch him."

As a team, the Mustangs went 9-under (279) in the opening round with Bearden (66), Robert Garcia (70), and Keaton Dickens (70) going into the red, while Gatlin Goad and Trevor Walsh recorded a 1-over 73.

Bearden (67) and Goad (70) were both under-par in the second round, but the Mustangs struggled to find a third and fourth score on the way to a 2-over 290.

MSU heads into the final round in a tie for fourth on the team leaderboard with Colorado School of Mines and Fort Lewis (Colo.) with a 7-under total of 569.

Colorado Christian carded team totals of 279 and 260 for a 27-under 539 to take a seven-stroke advantage over Western New Mexico (278-278 556/-20).

The final round of the RJGA Palm Valley Classic begins with a shotgun start Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. (Central Time).
 

RJGA Palm Valley Classic

Team Leaderboard

Pos	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Colorado Christian	-27	279	260	---	539
2	Western New Mexico	-20	278	278	---	556
3	St. Mary's (Texas)	-13	277	287	---	564
4	Midwestern State	-7	279	290	---	569
	Colorado School of Mines	-7	279	290	---	569
	Fort Lewis (Colo.)	-7	286	283	---	569
7	UT Tyler	-5	285	286	---	571
8	California State, East Bay	-4	289	283	---	572
9	Northeastern State (Okla.)	-3	283	290	---	573
10	Lubbock Christian	+1	288	289	---	577
11	Northwest Nazarene (Idaho)	+4	287	293	---	580
	Hawaii Pacific	+4	289	291	---	580
13	Western Washington	+5	296	285	---	581
	St. Martin's (Wash.)	+5	281	300	---	581
	Cameron (Okla.)	+5	289	292	---	581
	Colorado State-Pueblo	+5	295	286	---	581
17	Montana State-Billings	+7	289	294	---	583
18	Chaminade (Hawaii)	+17	298	295	---	593
19	Texas A&M International	+21	298	299	---	597

  

Individual Leaderboard

Pos	Player	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Adam Niles	Western New Mexico	-11	67	66	--	133
	Seth Bearden	Midwestern State	-11	66	67	--	133
	Ron Kildall	Fort Lewis	-11	66	67	--	133
4	Xavier Bighaus	Colorado Christian	-9	66	69	--	135
	Bradley Mulder	Colorado Christian	-9	72	63	--	135
6	Arnav Arkanath	Western New Mexico	-8	70	66	--	136
7	Jackson Naeger	UT Tyler	-6	69	69	--	138
	Lukas Taggart	Colorado Mines	-6	69	69	--	138
9	Will Livermore	Northeastern State	-5	69	71	--	139
	Henry Poston	Fort Lewis	-5	67	72	--	139
	Sebastian Tannum Donaldson	St. Mary's	-5	67	72	--	139
	Adam Duncan	Colorado Christian	-5	71	68	--	139

 

Midwestern State Scorecards

T4	Midwestern State	-7	279	290	---	569
Place	Player	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
T1	Seth Bearden	-11	66	67	--	133
T21	Gatlin Goad	-1	73	70	--	143
T51	Robert Garcia	+2	70	76	--	146
T61	Keaton Dickens	+3	70	77	--	147
T78	Trevor Walsh	+6	73	77	--	150