STOCKTON, Calif. - The San José State men's golf team led wire-to-wire, taking home the title at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invite on Wednesday at The Reserve at Spanos Park.
The Spartans shot a 16-under 848 (282-281-285) for the win, three strokes ahead of No. 4 ranked BYU (13-under) in second place. Nevada (11-under), Santa Clara (10-under) and Long Beach State (8-under) rounded out the top-5. The tournament title is the first for the Spartans since the spring of 2012, when SJSU won the WAC Championship.
"There are so many levels to this win," said head coach John Kennaday. "It means a lot to my guys, to the program, to our department and to the donors. There's so much happiness right now."
San José State not only won the team title.
Senior Sean Yu walked away with an individual championship as well. Yu shot an 11-under 205 (64-69-72) for the tournament. He also led wire-to-wire after shooting an 8-under 64 in his opening round on Monday. Yu struggled a bit to open Wednesday's final round, shooting a 3-over on the front nine. But after the turn, Yu settled in, with three birdies to bring him back to par for the day. Those birdies proved to be the difference as he finished two strokes ahead of Santa Clara's Matthew McCarty and Nevada's Sam Harned, both at 9-under for the tournament.
Sean Yu holds the championship trophy with Visit Stockton CEO Wes Rhea
The tournament win is the first of Yu's collegiate career. The senior tied for the title last season at the Western Intercollegiate, but lost in a playoff. Yu has been red hot as of late, taking second last week at the Alister MacKenzie before winning this week in Stockton. He has rounds of 10-under and 8-under in that span.
"This was a goal Sean has had for a long time," Kennaday said. "All these guys have worked so hard. Sean has been instrumental in showing our guys how to play the right game out there. It was beautiful to watch today."
Behind Yu, freshman Caleb Shetler used a strong final round to jump into the top-10. Shetler took seventh after shooting a 4-under 68. He was even par for the tournament going into Wednesday's round. Shetler placed in the top-10 twice this fall.
The Spartans also saw Carl Corpus and Matt Heitel tie for 40th at 3-over for the tournament. After an opening round 76, Corpus bounced back with a 70 on Tuesday and a 73 on Wednesday. Bryce Wortman also competed for the Spartans, tying for 63rd at 9-over. After struggling in the opening round with a 9-over 81, Wortman shot par 72 on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Spartans took third-or-better in three of their four fall tournaments. San José State opens up its spring schedule on Jan. 27-28 at the Southwestern Intercollegiate at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. The highlight of the spring schedule will be the 74th annual Western Intercollegiate on April 13-15 at Pasatiempo GC in Santa Cruz.
