Fresno State Athletics
Golf Competes in NCAA National Championship Tournament
5/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 30, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State Heads to Alabama for National Championships
The Bulldogs left for the National Championship tournament held in Auburn, Ala. this week. The Bulldogs tee off on Wednesday, May 31 with UNLV and Texas beginning at 1:30 with Senior Josh Watney. The four-round, 72-hole championship tournament concludes on Saturday, June 3. Results will be posted nightly.
About the Course
Grand National-Lake Golf Course is a par-72, 7,000 yard course with a 74.9 rating. It was rated one of the top 10 new public golf courses in America by Golf Digest and is part of the acclaimed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail of Alabama. The $16 million golf facility features two 18-hole courses built on Lake Saugahatchee with 32 of the 54 hole edged around its shores. Grand National has hosted two regionals, the 1997 Nike Tour Championship, and the 1998 LPGA Tournament of Champions.
Bulldogs Tie for Sixth Qualifying for the NCAA Championships
The `Dogs slipped from a third place tie to a sixth place tie qualifying for the NCAA Championships after the third and final round of the NCAA West Regional tournament held at Riverbend Golf Course in Madera, Calif. Fresno State scored 13-under-par finishing 281-279-291--851. Individually, three Bulldogs finished in the top 20 to propel Fresno State to the championships. Freshman Nick Watney, the highest Bulldog finisher, finished in a nine-way tie for ninth with a three-day score of 70-68-73--211 (-5). Watney teed off as the No. 1 seed from Fresno State for the final round. Seniors Ryan King and Danny Paniccia finished in a six-way tie for 18th with respective scores of 69-72-71--212 and 73-68-71--212 (-4). Senior Todd Rose scored a 69-73-77--219 (+3) finishing in a tie with six opponents for 60th, and senior Josh Watney finished in a tie for 66th with 73-71-76--220.
Arizona Takes First in the West Region
Arizona won the No. 1 seed heading to the NCAA Division I Championships after a 10-under-par final round. Arizona finished with three-day scores of 280-278-281--839 (-25). BYU tied for second with UNLV who jumped from fifth place after the second round, to second with a 9-under-par final round. The two teams finished with a total score of 843 (-21). Southern Cal finished in fourth (848, -16), New Mexico moved up one spot from the second round to finish in fifth (850, -14), and Fresno State tied for sixth with Arizona State scoring 851 apiece. Washington placed eighth finishing 9-under-par and Pepperdine fired their way into the top ten qualifying teams after a 7-over-par second day score to finish even in ninth. A three-way tie for the No. 10 seed was broken by a 1-hole playoff between Idaho, Stanford and Cal. Idaho dropped out after the first hole, Stanford and Cal continued to tie through three holes before Cal won by one stroke. Individually, Ryan Nelson of Portland, and Brandon DiTullio of UCLA will advance to the Championships as the top two individual qualifiers. Nelson competed in the West Regional as an individual, UCLA finished in 16th overall. The tournament was won by Pepperdine's Michael Beard who tied the Riverbend Course record for lowest round with 65 on the final day. Beard finished with scores of 71-68-65--204 (-12).
Fresno State Hosted NCAA West Regional Tournament
On May 18-20, Fresno State played host to 27 teams and six individuals from across the nation for the NCAA West Regional Championship tournament, a preliminary qualifying tournament for the Division I Championships in Auburn, Ala. on May 31- June 3. Riverbend Golf Course, a par 72, 6,966 yard course, in Madera, Calif. acted as the site of the competition.
`Dogs No. 4 in Golfstat Head-to-Head Standings
The WAC Champion Bulldogs moved up to the No. 4 spot in the nation heading into the NCAA Championships. To find more Golfstat rankings information visit the Bulldogs' golf website on www.gobulldogs.com and select "Latest Rankings".
Bulldogs 10th in Golfweek Magazine Poll
The Bulldogs are ranked 10th with a 71.40 rating and are second in District Seven, behind BYU according to the Golfweek Magazine poll.
`Dogs No. 9 in MasterCard Collegiate Poll
The Bulldogs moved to the No. 9 spot this week in the MasterCard Collegiate Poll. Clemson is in first followed by Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State.
Three Bulldogs In Individual National Rankings
Also ranked nationally by Golfstat, Golfweek and MasterCard are three Bulldog golfers. Todd Rose stayed in the top 30 in the MasterCard Golf Rankings taking the No. 20 spot. Rose also ranks 44th in the Golfweek Magazine poll and 38th in the Golfstat individual rankings. Ryan King moved to the No. 33 spot in Golfstat and is ranked 27th in the MasterCard poll. King moved up to No. 31 in the Golfweek poll. Danny Paniccia earned a No. 68 ranking by Golfstat and is No. 76 by MasterCard.
Bulldogs Crowned WAC Champions
The Bulldogs earned the first WAC Championship title on May 3, in Lewisville, Texas at the Golf Course at Castle Hills. The Bulldogs finished 14 strokes ahead of second place SMU with a three round score of 284-287-285--856. SMU finished with a total of 870, third place TCU finish with 871, Tulsa, in fourth, held a score of 881. UTEP finished in fifth with 884, Hawai'i took sixth (900) and Rice and San Jose State tied for seventh with scores of 909. Individually all five Bulldogs finished in the top 20 to earn the title. Fresno State's Todd Rose took second with 69-69-72--210 (-6) and Ryan King finished in third with 68-71-73--212 (-4). Danny Paniccia finished in a tie for sixth place with 76-72-69--217 (+1), Nick Watney tied for 13th with a three day score of 71-77-73--221 (+5) and Josh Watney finished in a tie for 15th with 76-75-71--222 (+6). Tulsa's Martin Maritz won the individual title with a score of 70-70-68--208 (-8).
Fresno State Garners WAC Awards
The Bulldogs were honored with four WAC All-Conference picks in seniors Ryan King, Todd Rose, Danny Paniccia and Josh Watney, as well as WAC Freshman of the Year honors in newcomer Nick Watney. Head coach Mike Watney was named Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his 22 year career at Fresno State, his second time in the Western Athletic Conference. Player of the Year went to Tulsa's Martin Maritz who won the individual WAC tournament, Tulsa finished fourth overall.
2000 Banquet Crowns Ryan King MVP
Ryan King was honored with Bulldog MVP honors for the 2000 golf team for his five top-five finishes and lowest Fresno State season average. Todd Rose was awarded the Bulldogs' Most Outstanding Player Award, Josh Watney earned Bulldogs' Academic Achievement Award as well as the Low-Round award for his 65 in the Western Intercollegiate. Mike Louden took home the Bulldogs' Most Improved and Danny Paniccia was honored with the Bulldog Award. Brandon Lamonica was honored with the Athletic Director's Award and Nick Watney earned the Bulldogs' Freshman of the Year Award.
Rose and King in Position to Break All-Time Lowest Avg. Per-Round
Todd Rose and Ryan King are both currently breaking the Fresno State school record in lowest season average per-round. King is leading the way with current average of 71.42 followed by Rose who boasts a per-round average of 71.72. The school record stands at 71.89 in 44 rounds set by Tim Norris in 1980.
Bulldogs Tie NCAA Lowest-Round-of-the-Year at Western Inter.
Bulldogs won the Western Intercollegiate with the strongest first round the NCAA has seen this year with a team (first round) score of 266. The Bulldogs score tied for the lowest round of the year in all rounds and all tournaments throughout the NCAA with Oklahoma State that earned a 266 earlier this season in the Red River Classic. In that first round three Bulldogs hit their career lowest round. Josh Watney scored a 65, beating his career lowest round by two strokes. Nick Watney scored a 69, his career lowest round by two strokes and Todd Rose tied his career lowest round of 66 set earlier this season at the Fresno Lexus Classic.
Bulldogs Earning WAC Golfer of the Week Honors
Freshman Nick Watney was honored with WAC Player of the Week for April 24-28 after his ninth place finish in the Ben Hogan Cougar Classic. Senior Ryan King earned WAC player of the week for April 10-14 after placing second at the Western Intercollegiate and teammate Todd Rose was WAC Player of the Week for Feb. 21-25 when he tied for fourth at the Taylor Made Intercollegiate.
