Host Long Beach State finished in third place at the 13th annual Del Walker Intercollegiate Tournament, but it was Colorado State that left every other school and visitor in awe inside the clubhouse Friday.
The Rams, who broke the tournament record by 20 strokes Thursday and the team-record total by the same margin Friday, shot 8-under-par 276 in the final round to win the tournament with a 41-under 811 score at the Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
Colorado State, winners of the past two Del Walker team titles, finished comfortably ahead of second-place UC Irvine, which recorded a 6-under 278 final round to card a 18-under 834 total.
Freshman Zahkai Brown won the individual competition by eight shots for the Rams, firing a 4-under 67 in the final round to finish at 17-under 196 for the tournament. Brown shattered the previous mark of 204 set last year by Arizona’s Robert Galletti and in 2005 by Lamar’s Dawie VanDer Walt.
LBSU’s “A team” — comprised of Ricky Montanez, Michael Drake, Kevin Lim, Steve Gibson and Kevin Roy — shot 4-under 280 in the final round, duplicating its second-round performance to place third with a 10-under 842 score. It was the team’s highest finish in the Del Walker since a third-place tie in 2004.
“I think we had a good week,” first-year head coach Bill Poutre said. “We really didn’t make a lot of big errors, we hung around all week, we played maturely.
“Occasionally, when you host your own event, there can be some pressure [they put on themselves]. When you’re at home, you can play with some distractions and, despite that, they played well and I was really, really proud of them.”
Montanez praised the progress the team has made since the beginning of the season.
“We’ve come so far in the month we’ve been together,” he said. “Every tournament we’ve gotten better and better.”
Gibson was the 49ers’ top performer, carding a 5-under 208 to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place with Colorado State’s Zen Brown and UC Santa Barbara’s Brian Hollenbeck. The junior played a bogey-free final round to move 25 spots up in the standings and tallied six birdies — including five on the front nine — to end the round at 6-under 65.
“I had nothing to lose,” Gibson said. “Today’s round is what I think I should be shooting.”
Poutre was impressed with Gibson’s aggressiveness, as opposed to playing cautious while at a high level.
“Steve is a great ball-striker — first of all, he’s a great kid,” Poutre said. “He’s been struggling with his putter throughout the year, and I think a lot of it is just confidence. The way he was walking around was just different [today]. He stayed on the gas pedal and had a great round.”
Montanez, a sophomore, took a step back in the final round, however, firing a 2-over 73 after recording back-to-back 68s in the first two rounds Thursday. He finished the tournament at 4-under 209 to finish tied for ninth with Pacific’s Patrick Kucich.
“[The first two days], fortunately I had a couple of chip-ins and made a couple putts that really jumpstarted the round,” Montanez said. “[Today], I had nothing going. I’d make a birdie and then I just give it right back.”
Rounding out the “A team,” freshmen Lim and Roy shot even-par 71 in the final round for LBSU and tied for 20th at 1-over 214 along with Drake, who finished the round at 2-over 73.
Freshman Austin Love, competing on LBSU’s “B team,” finished 15th with a 1-under 212 total, including a 1-over 72 in the final round.
“Austin’s a quality player,” said Poutre, adding that the players on the second team are a testament to the team’s depth. “When Austin starts to believe he can play, he’s going to be more consistent.”
Freshman Bobby Barajas (13-over 226) carded the best final-round total for the “B team,” firing an even-par 71 to finish tied for 61st. Sophomore Issei Suenaga finished tied for 33rd at 4-over 217. Junior Aaron Slonim (t-68th) recorded a 19-over 232 total.
The 49ers will travel to Simi Valley for the two-day Bill Cullum Invitational at the Wood Ranch Golf Club, starting Monday, Oct. 27. CS Northridge will host the event.