FAIRFAX, Calif. – Santa Clara men's golf entered the Alister MacKenzie Invitational as the No. 4 team in the country, according to the recent Golfweek.com rankings, and claimed runner-up honors to host Cal with a tournament total 24-under 828.
"I'm happy with a second-place finish in this tournament," head coach Rob Miller said. "Cal is a good team and beating them on their home course was unlikely. But there were some good teams behind us."
The Broncos held off a late rally by Arizona State and San Diego State to take second-place in the prestigious event with a final-round 4-under 280. They finished 17-shots behind the Golden Bears, one week after opening the fall season with a team victory at The Jackrabbit.
"We played really well down the stretch," Miller noted. "We had a nice comeback on the last nine holes going 11-under. We weren't too competitive on the front-nine."
Senior Hayden Shieh earned his 13th career top-5 finish by taking fourth with a 13-under 200. He tied for the tournament lead with 19 birdies and was the top-scorer on par-4 holes with Cal's Sebastian Crampton. Shieh finished two-shots behind individual medalist K.K. Limbhasut of Cal and one-shot back of Crampton and San Jose State's Kevin Velo.
Two other Broncos earned top-15 finishes to back the play of Shieh. Junior Derek Ackerman shot a final-round even-par 71 to tie for 12th at 6-under 207. Sophomore Matt McCarty was one-stroke behind at 5-under 208 following Tuesday's 1-over 72.
Freshman Zack Kaneshiro matched his career-low with a final-round 2-under 69 to finish tied for 41st at 2-over 215. "Zack really helped the team on the back nine," Miller said. "It was nice to see him have a good round."
Freshmen Jack Avrit and Berk Harvey, who competed as an individual, both shot a final-round 75 to finish tied for 63rd at 6-over 219.
MGOLF | @scugolf is No. 4 in @golfweek national ranking. Confirmed spot with 2nd-place finish at @CalMensGolf tourney. ������ #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/lF24AiXA16
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) October 11, 2017
The Broncos return to action October 26 for the first-round of the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational.
Santa Clara Final Round Individual Results
4. Hayden Shieh 67-65-68 = 200 (-13)
T12. Derek Ackerman 68-68-71 = 207 (-6)
T14. Matt McCarty 67-69-72 = 208 (-5)
T41. Zack Kaneshiro 73-73-69 = 215 (+2)
T63. Jack Avrit 72-72-75 = 219 (+6)
T63. Berk Harvey* 74-70-75 = 219 (+6)
*competed as an individual
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
• Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
• Men's Golf: Twitter | Facebook