Following a second round in which the Cal Poly golf team set a school record for lowest four-person total (268), the Cal Poly golf team held onto its lead during the final round to take the Del Walker Intercollegiate Golf Classic on Tuesday. The Mustangs’ team score of -2 through the tournament’s three rounds proved to be just enough to outlast runner-up Long Beach State, which finished one stroke behind at -1.
The top individuals for Cal Poly were juniors Cole Nygren and Justin De Los Santos. Nygren finished in a tie for fifth place with a score of -1, while De Los Santos was only one shot behind him at even par with a share of ninth place. Both players went especially low in the second round with the scores of Nygren (65) and De Los Santos (66), good for a combined effort of -9 at the par 70 Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
Senior Jordan Wright and sophomore Jesse Yap were a shot off De Los Santos’ mark, both finishing in a tie for thirteenth place with tournament totals of +1. Wright and Yap held down the third and fourth slots for the Mustangs by posting identical scores of 71 coming down the stretch on Tuesday afternoon.
Cal Poly finished ahead of fellow Big West Conference teams Long Beach State (-1), UC Irvine (+23), CSU Northridge (+23), CSU Fullerton (+25) and UC Santa Barbara (+31). While Michael Chen of Long Beach State was able to claim medalist honors with a score of -9, the Mustangs were able to stay ahead of the field by having five players finish within the top 20.
The team victory was the first in three years for Cal Poly, a possible sign of more good things to come for a program that received a $10 million donation earlier this year. Next up on the schedule for Cal Poly is the Oregon State Beaver Classic in Corvallis starting on March 21.