Boise State‘s Troy Merritt tied an OGIO-Pacific Coast Intercollegiate record by shooting a 199, winning the individual title, and Cal State Northridge shot an 855 and led wire-to-wire to win the team title
Tuesday afternoon at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course. Host UCSB finished fourth at 887.
Merritt completed his outstanding performance by shooting a 65 in the final round. On Monday, he shot 66 and 68. Merritt’s 14-under par performance was eight shots better than Cal State Northridge’s Nick
Delio, the second-place finisher, who shot 207. The Matadors’ Eric Harvey finished third at 211.
Interestingly, the fourth-place finisher was also a Northridge player, Aaron Hobbs at 214, but he played as an individual. A fourth Matador, Chris Satterlee, tied for ninth at 4-over par 217.
Cal Poly and Boise State tied for second-place in the team competition, each shooting an 875. Boise State’s 284 was the best final round score. At 887, the Gauchos finished one shot ahead of Loyola Marymount (888), six shots ahead of Cal State Bakersfield (893), and seven over Sacramento State.
The Gauchos’ top finisher, Michael Casca, a freshman from Oaks Christian High, actually played as an independent. He had a 2-over par 215 to finish fifth. Brian Hollenbeck carded a 5-over par 218 and tied for 11th. Playing as an independent, Darren Schwartz had the best round of any UCSB player Tuesday with a 70.
UCSB returns to action Monday and Tuesday at the University of Wyoming‘s Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bill Mahoney is UCSB‘s assistant athletics director.