Good
start for men's golf but team wants more
Golf:
The Long Beach State golf team is off to
a good start placing in the top five in
two tournaments this year.
By
Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State men's golf team is off
to a great start this season.
The
golf team has just completed its first two
tournaments where they finished in the top
five in both tournaments.
LBSU
took second place in the 2003 Northwest
Collegiate Classic at Trysting Tree Golf
Course in Corvallis, Ore. behind UC Irvine
this past weekend.
The
49ers shot a three-round total of 861 (285-284-292)
to take second place honors. The Beach opened
up the tournament with a two-round score
of 569, which was good enough for a first
place tie with UC Irvine. In the final round
the Anteaters shot a 277, compared to the
49ers 292 to win the team title with a final
score of 846. Washington State came in third
with 863 and New Mexico State and Oregon
tied for fourth place at 869.
"We
actually didn't play well in Stockton,"
head coach Bob Livingstone said. "We
played well in Oregon. We should have won.
Irvine just went bonkers. They were ungodly,
but what can you do. The team was disappointed.
So that is encouraging as a coach to finish
in second and have the team be disappointed."
Freshman
Ryan Wood led the 49ers with an outstanding
performance at the tournament. He shot a
69 in the last round, which placed him tied
for 10th with a two-under par. Senior Torey
Edwards and sophomore Todd Saukkola both
hit the ball well. They finished tied for
16th place with one-under-par 215.
Redshirt
freshman Brett Lederer added a solid performance
to finish tied for 28th place with a score
of 219 (73-72-74). Cal Poly's Travis Bertoni
won the individual title with the lowest
score of 204. UC Irvine's Vinnie Poncino
came a close second with a 205.
The
49er golf team opened up its 2003-2004 season
with a third place finish at the Pacific
Invitational held at The Reserve at Spanos
Park in Stockton. The 49ers finished six
shots behind second place Cal State Northridge
and ten shots behind tournament winner Georgia
Southern. The 49ers started the tournament
with a 572 two-round performance putting
them in second place after the first day
just seven shots behind tournament leader
Georgia Southern.
Edwards
was the star for 49ers ending the tournament
tied for second place with an eight under
par 208 (70-67-71) performance. The Long
Beach native finished four shots behind
eventual winner Aaron Price of Georgia Southern,
who shot a 204.
"He
played well," Livingstone said. "He
had 4 or 5 shots that weren't good and fell
in the water, but it was a good tournament
and second place is a good finish for him."
Wood competed as an individual in
the tournament and finished tied for eleventh
place with an even par 216 (70-71-75). Senior
Chris Gilley's three-over-par 219 (73-72-74)
was good enough to place him tied for 25th
in the tournament.
The
Beach is off to one of its best starts in
recent history and Livingstone feels this
is one of the best teams since 1983.
"It's
a good start to the year," Livingstone
said. "This is the best team since
1983 when we made it to the national championships
and had two all-Americans. In my opinion
this team is now balanced."
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