LA QUINTA, Calif. – Senior Hayden Shieh took runner-up honors and junior Derek Ackerman placed third leading Santa Clara men's golf to its third team title of the season at the Geiberger Invitational. The Broncos shot a final-round 282 on Tuesday to tie BYU at the top of the leaderboard with an 8-under 856 total.
The nail-biting finish came down to the last hole with the Broncos in position to get the outright title. "Matt (McCarty) had a birdie putt to win it on the last hole, but he got a bad read from his coach," head coach Rob Miller said.
"It was a four-team race," Miller added. "The last few holes are pretty tough. They aren't birdie holes. We played them really well and that allowed us to win the tournament."
Shieh carded the low-score of the day with a 4-under 68 to climb into second-place at 6-under 210. It was his fifth career runner-up finish and the 15th time he placed among the top-5. Shieh finished one-shot back of medalist Alex Lee of Fresno State.
A final-round 3-under 69 lifted Ackerman to his best finish in a team event at 5-under 211. He had a tournament-best 14 birdies and scored all three rounds below par for the first time in his Santa Clara career.
McCarty's final-round 74 dropped him a few spots on the leaderboard, but he was able to claim his sixth top-10 finish of the season. He tied with a trio of golfers at 2-under 214.
"It was a good finish for our top three again," Miller said.
Freshman Jack Avrit followed up his second-round 68 with today's 1-over 73, moving him into a tie for 44th-place at 9-over 225.
"Jack's score was critical for us," Miller stated. "His birdie on the last hole was huge."
Competing as an individual, freshman Zack Kaneshiro carded a final-round 1-under 71 to finish tied for 29th at 4-over 220.
The top three teams from this event will compete in the WCC Championship next week. The host LMU Lions were third. The three-day tournament is scheduled to begin on Apr. 16 from Carlton Oaks Country Club in Santee, Calif.
"We ended the season strong and the guys are playing with a lot of confidence heading into next week," Miller concluded.
The Broncos are No. 49 in the most recent Golfstat.com rankings and BYU is 38th.
Santa Clara Final Individual Results
| 2. | Hayden Shieh | 72-70-68 = 210 (-6) |
| 3. | Derek Ackerman | 71-71-69 = 211 (-5) |
| T9. | Matt McCarty | 73-67-74 = 214 (-2) |
| T29. | Zack Kaneshiro (I) | 72-77-71 = 220 (+4) |
| T44. | Jack Avrit | 84-68-73 = 225 (+9) |
| T60. | Michiel Eyre III (I) | 80-74-78 = 232 (+16) |
| T64. | Will DelBiaggio | 80-75-79 = 234 (+18) |
(I) Competed as an individual
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