Kertson, Gandionco Lead Men’s Golf To Eighth Place Tie At Cowboy Classic

Posted: Apr 08, 2014

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Freshman Tyler Kertson and sophomore Gio Gandionco both finished at 3-over 213 to lead the Santa Clara men's golf team to a tie for eighth place with a team total of 860 (+20) at the 21-team Wyoming Cowboy Classic, completed today on the Talking Stick Golf Club North Course.

The Broncos matched their second round 288 in today's final round and tied with Texas-San Antonio and Gonzaga, one shot behind UC Irvine, two shots behind Kansas State and three shots behind UC Davis. Oklahoma, the highest ranked team in the tournament according to the most recent Golfstat.com poll, won the event with an 831 (-9) total, seven shots better than BYU and Colorado.

"It wasn't our best effort and it wasn't our worst. Kind of standard," said head coach Rob Miller. "We had a bit of a slow start and fought our way back a bit."

Kertson shot a 1-over 71 across the three rounds to finish with his 213 while Gandionco sandwiched scores of 72 around his second round 69 to place in a tie for 22nd. Gandionco scored par on 16 final round holes and topped all players with 45 pars for the tournament.

"Another solid tournament for Gio and Tyler leading the team," said Miller. "Those two are stepping up their game and things are looking good for the future."

Oklahoma's Michael Gellerman won individual medalist honors shooting a 6-under 204 to finish one shot better than Colorado's David Oraee and BYU's Cole Ogden.

After missing yesterday's rounds due to some upper body discomfort, freshman Evan McLeod was back in the lineup and shot a 2-over 72. "We missed Evan yesterday," Miller stated. "He shot a nice round today."

Drew Miller finished with back-to-back rounds of 73 after his opening 72 to tie for 46th place with his 218 (+8) total.

Senior Scott Lowe carded a 1-under 69 in yesterday's first round but dropped to 75 in the second and finished with a 77 in today's final round for a tournament total of 221 (+11). "Scott is a little disappointed," Coach Miller said about his senior's final round.

Playing as an individual, sophomore Carlos Briones scored a final round 76 to finish with a 223 (+13) total.

With a short turnaround before the West Coast Conference Championship begins on Monday, Coach Miller has nothing specific planned for his team's preparation. "Nothing special," he said. "We'll work on whatever individual weaknesses we have to get ready for conference and hope the last tournament is our best."

The three-day WCC Championship, which takes place at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., gets underway on Monday, April 14.

Cowboy Classic Final Team Top 10 Standings

1. Oklahoma 275-285-271 = 831 (-9)

T2. Brigham Young 282-279-277 = 838 (-2)

T2. Colorado 271-290-277 = 838 (-2)

4. Utah 282-280-287 = 849 (+9)

5. UC Davis 283-288-286 = 857 (+17)

6. Kansas State 288-285-285 = 858 (+18)

7. UC Irvine 287-286-286 = 859 (+19)

T8. Santa Clara 284-288-288 = 860 (+20)

T8. UTSA 288-288-284 = 860 (+20)

T8. Gonzaga 279-286-295 = 860 (+20)