Cal State Fullerton Invitational Results: The men’s and women’s Cal State Fullerton golf teams joined forces to host the Folino Invitational February 19-21 at the Industry Hills Golf Club located in the City of Industry. Eighteen holes were played each day with the women playing on the “Babe Zaharias” course and the men competing on the “Ike” course.
In the men’s competition, Long Beach State proved they belonged on top after the first day of play, just five strokes behind tournament leader Pepperdine (292). The 49ers held onto their 2-stroke lead to win the 54-hole Second Annual Folino Invitational Men’s Golf Tournament by two over Pepperdine, 879-881. Host Cal State Fullerton shot 290 and moved up one place from Monday to finish third by one stroke at 882.
On the Babe Zaharias course, Gonzaga (301) took a 3-stroke lead over host Cal State Fullerton (304) after the first 18 holes on the first day. Gonzaga teammates posted the best round of the tourney at 293 to pull away to a 13-stroke victory over Fullerton. Long Beach State finished third at 918.
Big West Top Presence at St. George Tourney: Scott Rubzin shot a 5-under par 67 to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 2-stroke victory over host Southern Utah at the Pat Hicks Invitational men’s golf tournament. The Titans combined for a 1-under par 575 to edge the host Thunderbirds. It’s the second tourney title of the season for the Titans, who won the Firestone Grill Invitational in Nipomo, California, in October for the reinstated program’s initial crown in its third season.
Chris Russo won his second tournament of the 2011-12 season, who also won the fall season-opener at St. Mary’s Invitational in September. Russo’s two-round four under-par 140 led Cal State Nortrhidge to a fifth-place team finish among the 14 teams competing.
Junior Scott Patterson earned his first collegiate top-five finish for Cal Poly as the team settled for a third-place tie with College of Charleston in a two-day run at the Sunbrook Golf Course. Patterson carded a final-round 71 on the 6,879-yard, par-72 course for a three-under-par 141 total and a second-place tie with Mark Anguiano of Cal State Fullerton. Both finished one stroke behind individual champion Russo.
UC Irvine Gears Up For Annual Event: UC Irvine women’s golf program is slated to host the annual Anteater Invitational March 26-27 at the Dove Canyon Country Club in Dove Canyon, Calif. This year’s tournament features many conference foes, including host UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State and UC Riverside. Also set to compete in the two-day event are non-conference teams, BYU, Boise State, Delaware, Idaho, Montana, Portland State University, Sacramento State, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Washington State.
UC Davis Women Ranked Nationally In 2012: UC Davis finds itself tied for 25th in the most current Golfweek/Sagarin golf ratings in the 2012 spring season. The Aggies strung together a handful of successful performances in October to elevate their status. The Aggies women’s program placed seventh and ninth in its first two tournaments and then closed out the month with a team title at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown Oct. 25-26. In their first spring contest the UC Davis women’s golf team finished 14th at the highly competitive Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, hosted by Ohio State at Palos Verdes Golf Club. All five Aggie golfers are averaging 76.4 or lower, with Demi Runas leading the way with a 73.8 average, and four of the five athletes have posted at least one top 10 finish.
Former Anteater Performed in PGA Event: UC Irvine ulum Mike Lavery earned his Nationwide Tour card for 2012 after shooting a 4-under 68 in the last round of the PGA Tour Qualifying School’s final stage. Lavery shot 1-over par 72 in Sunday’s final round to finish 38th at the Nationwide Tour’s Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship in Bogota, Colombia.
Lavery, who played at UCI from 1999-2003 was a three-time Big West Conference Golfer of the Year and two-time medalist at the Big West Conference Championship, including 2010 when he won the 54-hole tournament by nine shots.