Chris Rendler, Jesse Ferris and Glen Scher each shot 11-over par 226 to tie for 25th-place, helping the UCSB golf team finish fourth out of 20 schools at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert.
The Gauchos, who were tied for sixth-place after the first round and tied for fourth with Southern Methodist after two rounds, shot a three-round total of 882.
UCSB recorded its lowest score in the third and final round, carding a 292. SMU shot a 290 to finish in third, two shots ahead of Santa Barbara, but the Gauchos were 13 shots better than Colorado State, which entered the final round in third-place.
In addition to the trio that finished tied for 25th, the Gauchos Paul Otte shot a 227 to finish one shot back and in a tie for 34th-place. Otte and Andrew Gunson, who logged an overall score of 230, each shot a 2-under par 70 in the final round to help the Gauchos to the fourth-place finish.
Texas A&M won the team title with an 879, five shots better than UNLV. SMU finished in third-place with an 890.
UCSB had all five of its golfers finish among the top-41. Only one other school, the champion Texas A&M, had all five of its competitors finish among the top-21.
Scott Travers of Santa Clara captured the individual championship. Travers ended the 54 holes tied with Kevin Penner of UNLV at three-under par, 213. The tiebreaker was decided by which of the two shot the lower final round. Travers fired a final round of 69 (-3), while Penner shot a final round 74 (+2). A year ago, Travers finished second to Wyoming’s Maier for the individual title. Travers and Penner were the only two individuals to finish the tournament under par at 213 (-3).
The Gauchos will next play in the Fresno Sate Lexus Golf Classic on Tue.-Wed., Mar. 7-8, at the Sunnyside Country Club in Fresno, Calif.
