After a week off from tournament play the Santa Clara men's golf team returns to action close to home in the 19-team Saint Mary's Invitational to be played at Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Courses in Seaside, Calif., starting on Monday.
Teams and individuals will play 36 holes on Monday, 18 on each course, and play the final 18 holes on Tuesday on the 7,104-yard, par 72 Bayonet course. The West Coast Conference will be well represented in the 19-team field with host Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, San Diego and USF scheduled to compete along with Santa Clara.
The Broncos started the new season strong with scores of 289, 280 and 288 for a sixth place tie in the 12-team Washington State Itani Quality Homes Collegiate on September 9-10. For the seventh time since the 2005-06 season Santa Clara scored three sub-290 rounds in the same tournament.
Sophomore Drew Miller paced the Broncos at the Palouse recording his finest round as a collegiate golfer with a second round 4-under-par 66 to claim his first career top-10 finish. Miller completed the three rounds at 1-under-par (209) to tie for 10th.
Playing in his first collegiate tournament, freshman Evan McLeod scored a 1-over 71 in the second and third rounds ending in a tie for 27th place with a 6-over 216. Sophomore Gio Gandionco carded five birdies in the final round on his way to a career-best round of 2-under 68 and senior Bobby Monaco matched the third-best round of his career with a first round even-par 70.
Senior Scott Lowe had the best finish of his collegiate career at last year's Saint Mary's Invitational tying for 2nd place, one-stroke off the lead with a 3-under 213. Lowe scored rounds of 72, 70 and 71 helping the Broncos to a fifth-place finish at last season's tournament.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: Saint Mary's Invitational
Dates (Site): Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 23-24 (Seaside, Calif.)
Host: Saint Mary's
Field (19 teams): Akron, Ball State, California, Cal State Northridge, Florida Gulf Coast, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Kansas State, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, North Carolina State, Oregon, Saint Mary's, St. Johns, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UC Irvine and UC Riverside
Details: 36 holes played Monday with 18 being played on each course. The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday at Bayonet GC. Both days will tee off at 8:00 a.m. with a shotgun start
Courses: Bayonet Golf Course / Blackhorse Golf Course
Yardage-Par: 7,104 yards-Par 72 / 7,024 yards-Par 72
Course Website: www.bayonetblackhorse.com
Course Number: (831) 899-7271 (PAR1)
Live Scoring: www.GolfStat.com
