49ers collapse in third round; place 15th

Golf • Sophomore Brett Lederer finished in 49th place for the 49ers at the Alister MacKenzie Inivitational in Fairfax. Matt Brown/CSULB Sports Information

 

By Henry Montemayor
Daily Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

Coming off its best team and individual single round performance, the men's golf team shot a poor 313 in the last round, finishing with a total of 908 at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational held at the Meadow Club in Fairfax.

Oregon State won the team championship with an 848 (282-283-283). Purdue 855 (288-280-287), California 856 (289-288-287), Northwestern 858 (282-283-293) and Kansas State 859 (292-280-287) rounded out the top-five finishers in the tournament.

Head Coach Bob Livingston said the last round at Fresno on Oct. 9 was the best of the year, and was hoping the team would be able to do it again last weekend. However, the team was hit with a couple of key losses.

One of the main contributors, James Logeman, who became ill during the Fresno tournament, was unable to make the trip.

Logeman was the member who shot the 68 in the third round at the Fresno Tournament. Another member, Todd Saukkola, was also unable to make the trip, which left the tournament up to golfers who were less experienced than Saukkola and Logeman.

Saukkola, last year's Big West tournament individual winner with a 209(70-71-68) was an All-Big West honorable mention. He had two top-10 finishes, including last years Del Walker fourth-place individual finish with a 208 (69-72-67) and the Big West tournament first place finish. His other finishes includes a tie for 24th at the US Intercollegiate with a 218 (74-70-74) and a 16th place tie in the Northwest Collegiate Classic with a 215 (70-72-73).

Brett Lederer led the 49ers individually as he finished tied for 49th place with a 224 (72-78-74). Other 49er finishers included Jeremy Keller's tie for 53rd place with a 225 (76-75-74), Ryan Panichpakdee's tie for 66th place with a 228 (72-73-84), Nick Badel's tie for 74th place with a 235 (76-73-86) and Ryan Woods 76th place finish with a 241 (80-80-81).

Dillon Dougherty of Northwestern and Bobby Bennett of Purdue tied for the individual title as both shot a six-under par 207.

Livingston said perhaps he was at fault for booking too many tournaments, and the players were not all healthy and well rested.

The 49ers will round out the fall season as they host the Del Walker Tournament to be held at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach Nov. 4 and 5.

Citing putting as the main problem for the team this year, Livingston said, "Hopefully the greens [at the Virginia Country Club] [will] help us. If we can shoot scores like we are able to, then we should do well."