Westlake Village, Calif.----- Battling an unexpected turn in a gusting wind and occasional rain for the final 18 holes, San Jose State University turned in one of the better team scores of the day to finish 11th in the 12-team Southwestern Invitational.
The Spartans posted a final round team score of 303, matching the fourth best score on the par 72, 6,992-yard North Ranch Country Club course. San Jose State finished with a 922 team total, one better than Augusta University, which was tied with the Spartans at the start of the day.
San Diego State, third at the start of the final round overcame a seven-shot deficit to first and second round team leader Arizona State with a 293 team score, seven shots fewer than any of the other 11 teams. and an 874 total. Arizona State matched San Jose State's 303 team score and dropped to second place. SMU at 882, Louisville at 885, and host Pepperdine at 888 rounded out the top five teams.
"We know what we want to do, but we had to figure out where we were in order to map out how to get there. It's really hard to figure out where you are without playing in a tournament," said San José State University men's golf head coach about the team's 2021 spring debut. The Spartans were one of the teams in the field that did not have any fall semester tournaments and had at most five practice sessions together before the nationally-televised Southwestern Invitational by Kennaday's estimate.
Senior and team captain Nate Jetter led the Spartans in the final round with a one-over par 73. Only six players in the 66-player field turned in a scorecard with a better score than Jetter for the last 18 holes. Jetter, who improved three strokes each round, finished in a 34th place tie at 228.
"For him to come in low under these conditions, that's a big step forward. He's our team captain and today, he showed us a good piece of that. He's been doing a lot of really, really good work for a long time. And, today, we got a glimpse of the reward for that," the Spartan coach said about Jetter's round that included three birdies without a bogey in a seven-hole stretch on holes 12 through 18.
Senior Sean Yu had his best round of the tournament with a 74 after opening consecutive 78's. Freshman Kristopher Stiles was the other Spartan to break 80 with a 79 for a 249 total. Caleb Shetler posted his second straight 77 for a 235 total and a 53rd place tie. Carl Corpus' rough day ended with an 83 and a 234 total tying for 48th place.
Playing as an individual entry, junior Bryce Wortman tied for 55th place at 236 after matching Corpus' final round 83.
Arizona State's David Puig was a runaway winner for individual medalist honors. Puig was the only player under par in all three rounds including a final-round, two-under par 70 for a 10-under par 206. Joshua McCarthy of Pepperdine, playing as an individual entry, was the only other player under par at the end of 54 holes with a 215 after matching Puig's 70.
San Jose State will be in action next at the Amer Ari Invitational in Kamuela, Hawaii, February 2-4.
42nd annual Southwestern Invitational men's golf
North Ranch County Club, Westlake Village, Calif.
Par 72, 6,992 yards
Final 54-hole results
| Team scores |
|
| 1.San Diego State |
874 |
| 2. Arizona State |
877 |
| 3. SMU |
882 |
| 4. Louisville |
885 |
| 5. Pepperdine |
888 |
| 6. Southern California |
900 |
| 7. Georgia Tech |
902 |
| 8. East Tennessee State |
904 |
| 9. California |
914 |
| 10. Saint Mary's |
915 |
| 11. San Jose State |
922 |
| 12. Augusta |
923 |
| Top individuals |
|
| 1. David Puig, Arizona State |
70-66-70-206 (-10) |
| 2. Joshua McCarthy, Pepperdine (ind.) |
72-73-70-215 (-1) |
| 3. R.J. Manke, Pepperdine (ind.) |
74-69-73-216 (E) |
| Matthias Schmid, Louisville |
71-68-77-216 (E) |
| Noah Goodwin, SMU |
70-71-75-216 (E) |
| Youssef Guezzlae, San Diego State |
73-68-75-216 (E) |
| San Jose State scores |
|
| 34. Nate Jetter |
79-76-73-228 (+12) |
| 42. Sean Yu |
78-78-74-230 (+14) |
| 48. Carl Corpus |
81-70-83-234 (+18) |
| 53. Caleb Shetler |
81-77-77-235 (+19) |
| 55. Bryce Wortman (ind.) |
77-76-83-236 (+20) |
| 65. Kristopher Stiles |
93-77-79-249 (+33) |
| (ind.) – played as an individual entry |
|
