The Long Beach State men’s golf team captured a third-place finish on Tuesday at the Triumph at Pauma Valley.
The 49ers came into the final round at the 7,077-yard course just 12 strokes back from the leader. Tuesday, they pushed to within seven strokes to finish at 43-over par for the tournament, five behind team champion Central Arkansas (+37) and one behind second-place host San Francisco (+42).
“Pauma Valley really is a great challenge and really penalizes you for your mistakes, especially on the greens,” LBSU assistant coach Zach Vinal said. “The pins were quite tricky and the greens were pretty quick. The course, by looking at the scores, played very difficult and when the wind was blowing like it was, made it even more challenging.”
The 49ers showed great consistency all week, shooting rounds of 299, 299 and 297 to put them in the top 3 for each round. Individually, The Beach placed a total of four players in the top 20.
Kevin Roy led the 49ers with a 6th-place overall showing after shooting a six-over-par 77 final round to finish the tournament at 10-over par. Roy shot a four-over 75 in the first round and an even-par second round on Monday.
Senior Robbie Berton followed one spot behind Roy, tying for 7th place after shooting a three-over par final round to finish at 11-over. He posted back-to-back rounds of four-over 75 coming into the final round.
Benjamin Lein tied for 11th with a three-round score of 12-over par after shooting an even-par final round. Senior Michael Drake placed in a tie for 16th with a tournament score of 14-over par.
Raymond Ho finished his three rounds at 21-over par to come in tied for 30th.
“As far as the team goes, I thought we put ourselves in position to win a tournament and we never gave up even though we were 12 back after round two,” Vinal said. “Our guys battled until the end and it was good to see that fight that they put into every hole. … Usually when you have four of your five starters in the top 20 like we did, that sometimes equates to a win. Central Arkansas played a very solid final round and hats off to them.”
The individual title went to Tom Whitney from the Air Force Academy. Whitney, the No. 38 player in the nation, showed he deserved his ranking after shooting a three-under par 68 final round to clinch the crown with a tournament score of two-under. Steven Lecuyer from Central Arkansas finished four shots back in second place at two-over par.
The 49ers next travel to South Carolina to play a links-style course in the Hootie at Bulls Bay from March 28-30.
“Overall, tough golf course, tough conditions and we are very proud of the way our guys battled and never quit” Vinal said. “That was great to see and we look forward to our next event in South Carolina.
“It is a good feeling for these guys to keep putting themselves in contention and eventually we will grab that elusive trophy.”