WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - The San José State men's golf team opened up the 2020 spring schedule with an eighth place showing at the Southwestern Intercollegiate at North Ranch Country Club.
The Spartans shot a 26-over 890 (302-289-299) for the tournament, finishing three strokes behind No. 18 ranked UCLA and tied with No. 4 ranked BYU. No. 6 ranked Pepperdine, the host of the tournament, who at 14-under 850. The Waves were the only team under par at the 12-team tournament. The tournament field featured eight of the top-50 teams in the Golfstat rankings. The Spartans climbed as high as fifth on the leaderboard after a strong second round, but a tough third round dropped them back down to eighth.
"We learned a lot this week," said head coach John Kennaday. "We got a better picture of what we need to do. The result hurts but those flashes of brilliance we had show what we are capable of."
Bryce Wortman was the top individual finisher for the Spartans, tying for ninth with an even par 216 (72-73-71). Wortman was even par in the opening round, one over in the second and one under in the third. Starting his third round on the back nine, Wortman ended his round with a birdie on No. 6, a bogey on No. 8 and a birdie on No. 9.
Sean Yu tied for 23rd at 4-over 220 (77-68-75). He had a fantastic second round. Starting on the back nine. Yu tallied four birdies and a bogey over the last six holes.
Caleb Shetler tied for 41st at 9-over 225 (75-73-77) while Carl Corpus and Matthew Heitel each tied for 53rd at 13-over 229. Parker Sisk also competed, tying for 67th at 24-over 240.
Pepperdine's Sahith Theegala won the tournament with a 12-under 204 (70-68-66).
Monday was supposed to be 36 holes but darkness cut the second round short. The second round was finished on Tuesday morning with the third round following.