Men’s Golf Closes Fall Season At Saint Mary’s Invitational

Matt McCarty with Rob Miller (courtesy Todd Ackerman)
Matt McCarty with Rob Miller (courtesy Todd Ackerman)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With three teams ranked among the top-20 in the most recent Golfstat.com poll, Santa Clara men's golf faces its stiffest test at the 18-team Saint Mary's Invitational, which gets started Monday on the 7,002-yard, par-71 Poppy Hills course in Pebble Beach.

No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 10 USC and No. 19 BYU highlight the field in the final event of the fall season for the Broncos. "This tournament features one of the strongest fields we will see this season," head coach Rob Miller said.

"You may have noticed that two of those teams are in our conference (WCC)," Miller added. "That makes it important for us to finish the season ranked in the top 60 so we don't have to beat them at the conference championship to qualify for the postseason."

Currently ranked No. 66, the Broncos are coming off a three-week break from tournament play, having last competed at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational when they carded a season-low 273 in the final round to snag a top 5 finish.

Junior Matt McCarty scored a second-round 61 at the Alister MacKenzie, earning his third top-10 in as many events this year and the 10th of his career by tying for seventh-place at 8-under 205. McCarty has been the team's top individual finisher at every event and leads the team with 70.11 stroke average.

Berk Harvey carded a career-low round of 66 and a 54-hole low of 213 his last time out. The sophomore is second on the team with a 71.67 average. Senior Derek Ackerman, sophomore Zack Kaneshiro and freshman Nordin van Tilburg make up the Broncos five-player team. Junior Ryan Johnson will compete as an individual in his first tournament of the season.

Check out updated Santa Clara team and individual stats by clicking here.

Two other teams rank among the top-50 in the country and 15 of the 18 competing teams are among the top-100 for the three-day tournament that will play a single 18-hole round on each day. "The guys have been working hard and they are looking forward to testing their skills against this strong field," Miller concluded.

Monday's first-round is scheduled to begin with a 7:30 a.m. PT tee time from the first hole. You can follow the action with live scoring on golfstat.com.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Name: Saint Mary's Invitational

Dates (Site): Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 5-7 (Pebble Beach, Calif.)

Host: Saint Mary's College

Tournament Field (Rank): Arizona (99), BYU (19), Central Florida (49), Colorado State (71), Fresno State (183), Nevada (36), Oregon (58), Oregon State (84), Pepperdine (8), Saint Mary's (79), San Diego State (68), San Francisco (62), Santa Clara (66), Southern California (10), Toledo (176), UNC Wilmington (89), Utah (59), Washington State (135)

Details: A single 18-hole round will be played in each of the three days for a total of 54-holes in a five-count-four team scoring format. Each day will begin with a 7:30 a.m. PT tee time on hole No. 1.

Course: Poppy Hills

Yardage/Par: 7,002 yards / Par 71

Course Website: www.poppyhillsgolf.com

Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

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