Big West Conference Championship
Cal Poly Finishes Tied for Ninth in Big West Conference Championship
4/30/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
2013 ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE TEAMS (pdf)
SAN JACINTO, Calif. -- Only one team was able to battle the elements successfully, posting a better team score than on Monday.
And that was Big West Conference men's golf co-champion Cal State Fullerton, which caught 36-hole leader Pacific by carding a four-person 296 total Tuesday at The Country Club at Soboba Springs. The Tigers checked in with a final-round 300 total.
Both teams finished with 23-over-par 887 totals for 54 holes of play on the 7,137-yard, par-72 course. Pacific, however, claimed the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals by winning a playoff on the first hole.
Defending conference champion UC Davis finished three strokes out of the playoff.
Cal Poly finished tied for ninth place with Cal State Northridge, both with 64-over-par 928 totals for three rounds of play. Cal Poly had a 317 total Tuesday, one stroke better than the Matadors.
Top Mustang finisher was freshman Camden Price (pictured at right) with a final-round 79 for a 13-over-par 229 total and a 25th-place tie with three other golfers.
Mustang teammate Scott Patterson added a final-round 80 for a 231 total and 32nd place while Grant Martens carded an 81 for a 234 total and 37th place.
Rounding out Cal Poly's scoring were Brandon Shaw with a 77 for a 235 total and 39th place, and Derick Strain with an 81 for a 243 total and 48th place.
Three players finished tied for first in the race for the individual title.
Brett Silvernail of UC Santa Barbara was the lone golfer in the field to break 70 Tuesday, carding a 69 to make up eight strokes on second-round leader Corey Gard of Cal State Fullerton, who posted a 77. Eric Sugimoto of Pacific was three strokes off the pace entering the final round and shot 74 to work his way into the three-way deadlock, all with one-over-par 217 totals.
Sugimoto won the playoff on the second extra hole.
The Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash., and the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., are two of the six sites for the regionals, slated for May 16-18. The finals are set for May 28 through June 2 at the Capital City Club - Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Georgia.
