Central Michigan University Athletics
Monday, February 9
Dade City, Fla. (Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club)
Central Michigan University
at
Lake Jovita Inv.
Keith Hunter shot a 3-under-par 69 during the second round of the Lake Jovita Invitational in Dade City, Fla. on Monday.
Photo by: Julia Bice '22,M'24 - @jb.jpg10
Downer, Hunter, Yturralde lead Chippewa Men to Solid Start at Lake Jovita
2/9/2026 9:25:00 PM | Men's Golf
Downer, in first event as a Chippewa, fires opening-round 5-under 67; CMU tied for 6th heading into Tuesday's final round
DADE CITY, Fla. – Aydan Downer made a strong debut in leading the Central Michigan golf team in its spring-opening event, the Lake Jovita Invitational, on Monday at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club.
Downer, a sophomore from Toronto, opened with a 5-under par 67 and followed with a second-round 3-over 75 for a 2-under 142 total in his first day of competition as a Chippewa. He is tied for 10th in the 88-player.
Downer led the Chippewas to a first-round 291 team total. They shot 284 in Monday's second round and are tied for sixth with a 36-hole 575 total in the 14-team field. They trail first-place Xavier (567) by eight shots.
CMU's Philippe Yturralde and Keith Hunter are among a group tied for 17th at 1-under. Yturralde shot 73-70; Hunter shot 74-69.
"I think the guys did very well in doing what we left off doing in the fall, which is positioning ourselves for the final round," said CMU coach Kevin Jennings, whose team is 1-under. "Under par again for 36 holes, which is something that in the past was not always a consistent thing to have happen, but we've been able to do that a few times this year. I'm very proud of the guys for that.
"We understand that we have much more that we can access and tap into, and we're going to continue to reach for that."
CMU's Hudson Vedder (77-70) is tied for 47th at 3-over 147 and Jeffrey Andrus (81-75) is tied for 85th at 12-over. The Chippewas' Jeffrey Sager (74-75), playing as an individual, is tied for 60th at 5-over.
Yturralde, Hunter, Vedder and Andrus improved their respective scores from round 1 to round 2 by an average of 5.25 strokes. The Chippewas made a seven-shot improvement from the first round to the second in team score.
"It's just the basic tenacity and resiliency that we always speak to," Jennings said. "One thing that we always try to do is improve from round to round as individuals and as a team. They've embraced that. And we're continuing to move forward with all the positivity going with each individual and collectively with the team and looking forward to much more.
"I'm very happy and proud of these young men for the way that they're digging in and competing at a very high level, and very quickly, and doing the things that we envision for ourselves and moving in the direction that we want to move."
Downer made 11 birdies in his 36 holes, seven of them in the first round, tying for the third most in the field. Hunter and Vedder each made nine birdies on the day, tying for 12th.
Downer got off to a fast start, birdieing five of his first seven holes in his opening round. He started on No. 11 under the shotgun start, and closed his round with a birdie on No. 10 for a back-nine 6-under 30. His first-round front-nine included one birdie and the lone blemish on his card, a double bogey on the par-5 ninth.
He made four birdies against seven bogeys in the second round.
"We all are very excited and happy for him," said Jennings of Downer, who joined the program at the start of the winter semester after spending his freshman year at Barry University in Florida. "There wasn't really any pressure. Pressure is something that's self-induced (and) we talk about it. We're going to continue to push it away and not allow it to dictate what we do. We want to focus on what we do and do it the best way that we can.
"Aydan battled back pretty well (in the second round) and hung in there to contribute to the team so even though he may not have had his best or what he may have wanted on the afternoon (round), he still is in the top 10. We're very happy and proud about that."
Downer shared the first-round lead with Carson Baez of Richmond and Brody Tidwell of Georgia State. Baez posted a second-round 4-under 68 and leads the tournament at 9-under.
Downer, a sophomore from Toronto, opened with a 5-under par 67 and followed with a second-round 3-over 75 for a 2-under 142 total in his first day of competition as a Chippewa. He is tied for 10th in the 88-player.
Downer led the Chippewas to a first-round 291 team total. They shot 284 in Monday's second round and are tied for sixth with a 36-hole 575 total in the 14-team field. They trail first-place Xavier (567) by eight shots.
CMU's Philippe Yturralde and Keith Hunter are among a group tied for 17th at 1-under. Yturralde shot 73-70; Hunter shot 74-69.
"I think the guys did very well in doing what we left off doing in the fall, which is positioning ourselves for the final round," said CMU coach Kevin Jennings, whose team is 1-under. "Under par again for 36 holes, which is something that in the past was not always a consistent thing to have happen, but we've been able to do that a few times this year. I'm very proud of the guys for that.
"We understand that we have much more that we can access and tap into, and we're going to continue to reach for that."
CMU's Hudson Vedder (77-70) is tied for 47th at 3-over 147 and Jeffrey Andrus (81-75) is tied for 85th at 12-over. The Chippewas' Jeffrey Sager (74-75), playing as an individual, is tied for 60th at 5-over.
Yturralde, Hunter, Vedder and Andrus improved their respective scores from round 1 to round 2 by an average of 5.25 strokes. The Chippewas made a seven-shot improvement from the first round to the second in team score.
"It's just the basic tenacity and resiliency that we always speak to," Jennings said. "One thing that we always try to do is improve from round to round as individuals and as a team. They've embraced that. And we're continuing to move forward with all the positivity going with each individual and collectively with the team and looking forward to much more.
"I'm very happy and proud of these young men for the way that they're digging in and competing at a very high level, and very quickly, and doing the things that we envision for ourselves and moving in the direction that we want to move."
Downer made 11 birdies in his 36 holes, seven of them in the first round, tying for the third most in the field. Hunter and Vedder each made nine birdies on the day, tying for 12th.
Downer got off to a fast start, birdieing five of his first seven holes in his opening round. He started on No. 11 under the shotgun start, and closed his round with a birdie on No. 10 for a back-nine 6-under 30. His first-round front-nine included one birdie and the lone blemish on his card, a double bogey on the par-5 ninth.
He made four birdies against seven bogeys in the second round.
"We all are very excited and happy for him," said Jennings of Downer, who joined the program at the start of the winter semester after spending his freshman year at Barry University in Florida. "There wasn't really any pressure. Pressure is something that's self-induced (and) we talk about it. We're going to continue to push it away and not allow it to dictate what we do. We want to focus on what we do and do it the best way that we can.
"Aydan battled back pretty well (in the second round) and hung in there to contribute to the team so even though he may not have had his best or what he may have wanted on the afternoon (round), he still is in the top 10. We're very happy and proud about that."
Downer shared the first-round lead with Carson Baez of Richmond and Brody Tidwell of Georgia State. Baez posted a second-round 4-under 68 and leads the tournament at 9-under.
Players Mentioned
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