PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Santa Clara men's golf's Viraj Garewal closed his three-day stay at the Saint Mary's Invitational just the way he started it - with consistency. The grad transfer tallied his third-straight even-par 71 to finish the tournament in a tie for seventh at even par- 71-71-71--143. It is Garewal's second top-10 finish of the fall.
Garewal put a cap on his top-10 performance by rolling in two birdies to counter a pair of bogeys in Wednesday's final round. He finished just one stroke behind a three-way tie for fourth and was seven strokes behind the individual medalist, Fresno State's Matthew Manganello (7-under 206). It is Garewal's second-best finish as a Bronco behind only his tie for sixth in the season-opening USF Intercollegiate.
Santa Clara dropped a couple spots in the team standings, but still held on to finish in fifth at 16-over 281-293-294--868. The Broncos were just three strokes behind host-Saint Mary's (864) for third. San Diego played on a different level than everyone else as they distanced themselves from second-place Colorado State (861) to win by 16 strokes at 7-under 845.
Freshman Calder Overfelt and senior Alex Conley tied for 22nd at 5-over 218 after each tallying a solid final round. Overfelt shot an even-par with five birdies while Conley was just 1-over with a trio of birdie putts. Oscar Zimmerman, playing as an individual, had his best round of the three days on the course with an even-par 71 of his own to climb 22 spots in the final round to tie for 41st at 10-over 72-80-71--223 alongside his teammate Nolan Forsman (10-over 69-74-80--223). Freshman Eugenio Bernardi finished 14-over 70-77-80--227 to tie for 58th.
With the conclusion of the Saint Mary's Invitational, Santa Clara has put a bow on the fall portion of their 2022-23 season. The Broncos will return to the links on January 30-31 for the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.