Laguna Niguel, Calif. – Santa Clara men's golfer Martin Keskari carded a three-round total of 5-over 221 and finished in a tie for sixth place at the 33rd Anteater Invitational at the El Niguel Country Club in Laguna Niguel, Calif., his third top-10 finish in nine events this season.
The freshman from Frankfurt, Germany followed his 1-under 71 first-round with identical scores of 75 in the next two rounds to finish five strokes off the pace. "Martin is Martin," said head coach Rob Miller. "He played well and has been a consistent player all year."
Carlos Briones completed three rounds with a score of 230 (+14) and placed in a tie for 28th place. It was his first event since the Arizona Intercollegiate at the end of January. "It was nice to see Carlos play well and back to his form from the fall," said Miller.
Gio Gandionco started the final round with a pair of birdies and three pars on the first five holes before ending the day at 7-over 79. His three round total of 232 (+16) placed him in a tie for 31st place.
Scott Lowe dropped to a tie for 42nd place after a final round of 81, but Miller wasn't too concerned. "I didn't think he was ready, but Scott wanted to go," the coach said. Lowe has been battling an illness for several weeks and hadn't even swung a club. "We are getting him ready for Conference," Miller added.
The Broncos scored rounds of 309, 297 and 313 for a 919 total (+55) and placed eighth in the 11-team event for their fifth top-10 finish of the season. "We had a very good round (round 2), one we hadn't seen this calendar year," Miller said. "It was nice to see that."
Entering Tuesday in fifth place, the Broncos totaled a final round of 313 to drop to No. 8. "It was a bit of a struggle today," Miller noted. "We have a couple of guys getting back into the swing of things, but overall I think it was a step in the right direction after a pretty tough winter."
Long Beach State led from start to finish with rounds of 288, 305 and 298 for a total of 891 (+27) and a three-stroke advantage over runner-up Cal State Fullerton. Loyola Marymount's Connor Campbell took individual honors with scores of 70, 75 and 71 for an even-par 216, one stroke better than round two leader Daniel Chian of Long Beach State.
The Broncos will compete in the University of Wyoming Cowboy Classic on April 8-9 in Scottsdale, Ariz., before concluding their season at the West Coast Conference Championship at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., on April 15-17.