FRESNO, Calif. – Led by a 4-under-par 68 from Carlos Briones and a 3-under 69 from Tyler Kertson in today's final round, the Santa Clara men's golf team claimed a tie for third place at the 10-team Nick Watney Invitational, completed today at the Sunnyside Country Club in Fresno, Calif.

Briones earned his first top-5 finish by firing the third-best round of his career today completing the event with three sub-par rounds and a 209 (-7) total to tie for third place. He climbed seven spots up the leaderboard today to tie with a pair of golfers, just three shots behind medalist Byron Meth from Pacific. Cal Poly's Mitchell Martin placed second at -9.

After a yesterday's second round 80, Tyler Kertson responded with the second-best score of his career with today's 69. He was aided by Santa Clara's only eagle of the tournament knocking in his third shot on the par-5, 548-yard ninth hole. Kertson climbed 17 spots on the leaderboard today to finish in a tie for 38th at 7-over (223).

As a team the Broncos notched the third-best final round score with today's 285 to tie for third with UC Irvine and Cal Poly with at 860 (-4). Pacific (838) took the team title by 20 shots over tournament host Fresno State (858). It was the first time Santa Clara has posted a top-5 finish in consecutive tournaments with 10 or more teams since the 2009-10 season.

Gio Gandionco and Hayden Shieh each carded a 2-over 74 in today's final round to place within a shot of each other. Gandionco recorded a team-high 13 birdies over the three rounds and tied for 19th with a 1-over 217 total while Shieh placed in a tie for 23rd with his 2-over 218.

Nick Watney Invitational Final Team Standings

1.      Pacific                       281-270-287 = 838 (-26)

2.      Fresno State              281-287-290 = 858 (-6)

T3.    Santa Clara               285-290-285 = 860 (-4)

T3.     UC Irvine                    282-289-289 = 860 (-4)

T3.     Cal Poly                     293-282-285 = 860 (-4)

6.      CS Northridge            287-288-288 = 863 (-1)

7.      Sacramento State       288-295-281 = 864 (E)

8.      Grand Canyon            291-288-287 = 866 (+2)

9.      UC Riverside              296-290-283 = 869 (+5)

10.     CS Bakersfield           290-289-300 = 879 (+15)

Santa Clara Final Individual Results

T3.     Carlos Briones           71-70-68 = 209 (-7)

T19.   Gio Gandionco           70-73-74 = 217 (+1)

T23.   Hayden Shieh             70-74-74 = 218 (+2)

T38.   Tyler Kertson              74-80-69 = 223 (+7)

55.     Michael Hultquist        77-73-80 = 230 (+14)

56.     Drew Miller*                74-79-79 = 232 (+16)

*Played as an individual