Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
NCAA Championships
WAC Champion Bulldog Golf Finishes 13th at NCAAs
6/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 3, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State finished the NCAA National Championship in 13th, the highest Bulldog finish in 10 years, today. Fresno State finished 5th in the nation in 1990. The Bulldogs tallied a four-round score of 293-285-279-297--1154 (+2). After one playoff hole, Oklahoma State won the tournament with a score of 1116 (-36) followed by second place Georgia Tech(-36) and third place Arizona with a 1118 (-34) score. Individually, Charles Howell of Oklahoma State won the tournament with a score of 265 (-23).
"It wasn't a great day for the 'Dogs, but it was a great year," head coach Mike Watney said. "I'm not displeased with 13th, that's really great, but we could have done better. I'm really proud of the guys and how they battled."
Fresno State's senior Josh Watney and Danny Paniccia led the Bulldogs for the tournament tying for 50th place individually and tied with teammate Todd Rose for a 75 on the final round. J. Watney scored a four-round total of 75-71-69-75--290 (+2), Paniccia scored a 71-74-70-75--290 (+2) and Rose tallied a 77-70-72-75--294 (+6). Freshman Nick Watney earned Fresno State's lowest round of the day with a 72 finishing the tournament tied for 62nd with a total score of 72-79-70-72--293 (+5). Senior Ryan King finished in a tie for 73rd with a final round of 82 and a four-day score of 75-70-70-82--297 (+9).
With the completion of the season three Bulldogs' season averages break into the Fresno State all-time low season average list beginning with King whose 71.7 season average ranks No. 1 in Bulldog history breaking Tim Norris' 71.89 that stood as the record for 20 years (1980). Rose's season average of 71.9 ties him for third and Paniccia's 72.2 on the season places him No. 9 in Fresno State history.
The 15-team tournament concluded with a one-hole playoff between Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech with Oklahoma State winning by a stroke. Team finishes are as follows:
1. Oklahoma State (-36) 2. Georgia Tech (-36) 9. Kent (-11) 3. Arizona (-34) 10. North Carolina (-9) 4. Houston (-30) 11. TCU (-6) 5. Texas (-27) 12. Minnesota (-3) 6. UNLV (-21) 13. FRESNO STATE (+2) 7. Clemson (-19) 14. Auburn (+9) 8. Northwestern (-13) 15. Wake Forest (+17)For complete team and individual results as well as live stats go to www.auburn.edu/athletics/ncaagolf . The leaderboard and team leader live stats on the web are unofficial until the final results are printed and posted as official final results.
The national championship tournament was hosted by Auburn University and played on the par-72, 7,000 yard Grand National Lake Golf Course. The course has hosted two regional tournaments, the 1997 NIKE Tour Championship and the 1998 LPGA Tournament of Champions.
