Men’s Golf Places 7th At The Farms Collegiate Invitational

Posted: Feb 11, 2014

RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – A final round team score of 303 dropped the Santa Clara men's golf team to seventh place at the 12-team Farms Collegiate Invitational, completed today at the Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe. Tyler Kertson and Drew Miller were the team's top individual finishers placing in a tie for 17th.

After identical scores of 295 in each of yesterday's two rounds, the Broncos scored a 15-over 303 today to fall into seventh place with a team score of 893. It was the first team round above 300 for Santa Clara since a 310 in the first round of the Cabo Del Sol Intercollegiate on October 6, a span of 10 rounds.

"We played some good holes then stubbed our toes on the last few holes today," said head coach Rob Miller. "It could have been worse and it could have been better. It's (team score) certainly not a killer by any means."

Tournament host San Diego navigated its home course to a total of 4-under 860 and captured the team title by 14 shots over Kennesaw State. San Diego's Grant Forrest defeated Kennesaw State's Jimmy Beck on the first playoff hole to win individual medalist honors. The two completed the 54-hole tournament with a 6-under 210, three strokes better than Duke's Motin Yeung.

WCC members LMU (883), Pacific (884), Saint Mary's (890), Santa Clara (893) and USF (898) finished within 15 shots of each other. "All the (WCC) teams were pretty close," said Coach Miller. "The conference is wide open and we need to continue to improve."

After rounds of 75 and 76 yesterday, Kertson scored a 1-under 71 in today's final round to climb from 35th to a tie for 17th with a 222 (+6) . After a bogey on the fifth hole put him at 1-over, the freshman recorded two birdies and 11 pars over the final 13 holes to finish with his fourth career sub-par round. "Tyler had a good day," noted Coach Miller. "He continues to be impressive as a freshman."

Sitting at 1-under heading into today's final round, Drew Miller slipped to a 7-over 79 and settled for a tie with Kertson at 17th. Scott Lowe tied for 28th with a 225 total (+9) scoring a 77 in each of the last two rounds.

Sophomore Gio Gandionco was working on a impressive round today after completing the first 12 holes at 3-under. However three double-bogeys over the last six holes dropped him to 4-over and he ended the tournament in a tie for 39th place with a 12-over 228. Bobby Monaco scored an 81 today and finished tied for 54th with a 232.

"It's a little disappointing," Coach Miller said about his team's final round score. "We had been successful in final rounds during the fall, but this one got away from us."

The Broncos will look to regroup when they travel to the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on Feb. 21-23 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif.

The Farms Collegiate Invitational Final Team Standings

1. San Diego 283-292-285 = 860 (-4)

2. Kennesaw State 285-295-294 = 874 (+10)

3. Loyola Marymount 298-299-286 = 883 (+19)

4. Pacific 300-289-295 = 884 (+20)

5. Duke 281-297-309 = 887 (+23)

6. Saint Mary's 299-295-296 = 890 (+26)

7. Santa Clara 295-295-303 = 893 (+29)

8. UC Riverside 299-292-303 = 894 (+30)

9. San Francisco 291-315-292 = 898 (+34)

10. Fresno State 297-297-312 = 906 (+42)