UC Santa Barbara shot its best round in recent memory, a third round 273, to come from nine shots back a narrowly miss winning the title at the Sycuan Collegiate Invitational at the Willow Glen Golf Course in El Cajon. The Gauchos, who were seven shots better than the next closet team in the final round, finished at 26-under par 838, one shot behind Colorado State.
“It was a great last round for us,” said UCSB head coach Steve Lass. “We easily beat every team in the field. We were too far behind Colorado State to come all the way back, but we made a great run.”
Leading the final round rush for the Gauchos were sophomore Tyler Weir who shot a 6-under par 66, junior Sean Bowman, a Santa Barbara native and former star at Dos Pueblos High School, who shot a 5-under par 67, and freshman Aaron Sherry, who carded a 4-under par 68.
“They all had great rounds, but today was a Sean Bowman-breakout round,” Lass said. “He was fantastic. It was easily the best round he’s shot for us.”
Weir finished tied for fourth in the tournament’s individual standings with a 9-under par 207. After shooting an even-par first round, he was 9-under in the last two rounds. Sherry finished tied for sixth at 8-under par 208. His best round was the second when he carded a 6-under par 66. Junior Brian Hollenbeck tied for 28th at 2-under par 214. Junior Matt Grush tied for 46th at one-over par 217, and Bowman tied for 61st at three-over par 219.
Wichita State’s Dustin Garza won the individual honors with a 16-under par 200. Bryce Hanstad of Colorado State finished second at 12-under par, while Denver’s Daniel Wax was third at 11-under par.
The team title was the fourth in a row for Colorado State, which also won last week’s Wyoming Desert Classic. The top four spots were tight with the Rams finishing one shot ahead of the Gauchos, two shots ahead of the University of San Diego, and four shots ahead of Denver.
UCSB has one fall tournament remaining. The Gauchos travel to the Pacific Invitational at the Brookside Country Club in Stockton, on Nov. 3-4.
Weir, Bowman and Sherry go way low for Gauchos
October 18, 2008 by
