Strong finish propels men's golf team in Fresno tourney

Junior Ryan Panichpakdee

 

By Henry Montemayor
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The men's golf team shot a strong third round to propel them to finish in eighth place at the Fresno Lexus Classic, held at Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno last weekend.

The beach shot a 283 in the third round, which was the third best of the day, behind San Diego State (280) and eventual tournament champions Brigham Young University (279).

BYU won the tournament with a total score of 827. San Diego State (847), UC Riverside (851), Fresno State (852) and Mt. St, Mary's (853) rounded out the top five finishers of the tournament. Long Beach state finished with a total score of 863.

Junior Ryan Panichpakdee led The Beach men with an even par 216 (72-71-73) to tie for 22nd place in the tournament. Other top finishers for the Beach include sophomores Ryan Wood and Brett Lederer and junior James Logeman.

Lederer was named first team All Big West Conference last season and had his best single round of 65 in the Del Walker Intercollegiate last fall. Named the top golfer five times last year, Lederer finished seventh in the Big West championships with a 215 (71-76-68) and second in the Western Intercollegiate with a 208 (69-71-68).

Entering the tournament, the expectations of the team was to "play well, and to have one or two players to shoot under par," Head Coach Bob Livingston said. "In the final round, we were able to do so, and under bad conditions."

On Saturday Lederer shot a 71 to land him in a tie for 47th place with a 221(70-80-71) for the tournament. Wood, who also shot a 71 on Saturday, by virtue of a better first day finished tied for 32nd place with a 221 (74-74-71).

Logeman had the best day on Saturday as he shot a 68 to finish the tournament with a 221 (77-76-68).

BYU's Greg Machtaler took home the individual championship with a 14-under par 202 (70-63-69) performance, followed by San Diego State's Andrew Scott with a 205 (66-71-68).

Livingston was "very happy" with the final round.

"We've caught some teams, we past some teams, but most of all, we shot under par, which we did under bad conditions," he said.

The Beach was able to move up in the standings in the second round, going as high as sixth place, but ended the tournament in eighth place.

Livingston called the third round a "breakout round" because they were able to have multiple players shoot under par, which he hopes the players will "feed off each other, and snowball from it."

The Beach began the final round after shooting a 580 (290-290), which was good enough for 11th place. Panichpakdee shot a one-under 143 (72-71), which was good for a tie for 23rd after the first round. Jeremy Keller shot a three-over 147 (73-71), which landed him in a tie for 47th after the first round.

The Beach is currently participating at the Alister Mackenzie Tournament at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, California.

"[This tournament features] the toughest overall field we have faced in the fall season," Livingstone said.