Mustangs tie for second place in Santa Barbara

Four days after winning its second tournament title in a row, and its sixth in school history, the Cal Poly men’s golf team finished tied for second among 12 teams at the UC Santa Barbara-hosted OGIO-Pacific Coast Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

The Mustangs carded an 875 total at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course in Santa Barbara to tie with Boise State, 20 strokes behind Cal State Northridge, which led from start to finish.

Boise State senior Troy Merritt matched the event record with a 199 to take top individual honors.

On behalf of Cal Poly, sophomore Geoff Gonzalez shot a final-round 72 en route to a 218 total, good enough for an 11th-place draw.

Senior Brycen Wagner tied in 13th with a 219, while senior Dave Lewinski followed in another three-person deadlock, in 18th place with a 221.

Other Mustangs finishing in scored ties were freshman Jarod Knight, in 27th with a 223, and senior Michael O’Brien, in 40th at 227.

Thursday and Friday, Cal Poly successfully defended its intercollegiate title during the two-day, 14-team Lamkin Grip Cal Poly Invitational at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande.

Wagner won the tournament after carding his third-straight round of 71 to finish with a 54-hole total of 213, three under on the par-72 course. He finished the tournament tied with British Columbia’s Cory Renfrow after the third round, but won by default after Renfrow had to board a plane back to Vancouver before the final playoff. It was Wagner’s first time winning a college tournament.

“It’s definitely a success,” Wagner said. “It’s not the way I like to win, but it still counts as a victory.”

The victory for Wagner comes after a crucial scorekeeping error the day before, when he birdied a par-four hole, but accidentally marked it as an even par. The mistake cost him an extra stroke, leaving him two behind Cal State Northridge’s Nick Delio, the leader of the first round.

Two other Mustangs ended the tournament in its top 10. O’Brien finished alone in ninth after posting a final-round 73 for a two-over 218 total, while Knight finished in a tie for 10th place with a five-over 221 total, carding a 76.

Lewinski finished tied for 13th place with a final-round 73 and a 223 total while Gonzalez also shot a 73 for a 224 total, coming in an 18th-place tie.

“We managed to pull it together each round,” Wagner said.

Cal Poly won the team championship in a margin of 11 strokes over Cal State Northridge by carding a final-round, two-over 290 total for a seven-over 871 aggregate.

The Mustangs, who were a tournament-high 19 under on par-fives, and had the most birdies (51) and pars (191), will travel to the Big West Conference Championships, held April 21 and 22 at Tijeras Creek Golf Course in Mission Viejo.