Fresno State Athletics
Golf Travels to Southern California
3/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 4, 2001
Bulldogs Hit SoCal
Fresno State will travel to Los Angeles on Monday, Mar. 19 to compete in the Cleveland Golf Collegiate Classic held at the North Ranch Country Club. The first of the two tournaments the `Dogs will play in Southern California this season, heading to San Diego on the 19th. The last opportunity for the Bulldogs to compete in their home state will be on April 2, when they travel to San Jose State. The `Dogs made a near clean sweep of the Section 7 teams, except for New Mexico, at Hawaii and are looking to repeat their success.
Smith Hits Career Highlight
Junior Dustin Smith (Crescent City, Calif.) set a new career milestone at Hawaii this week. Smith set a new personal low with his second round score of 65 at the John Burns Classic on Feb 21-23. The tournament was hosted at the Leleihua Golf Course in Honolulu, which is a par 71 and 6,917 yards. Smith transferred from Saint Mary's College last year and redshirted. Smith was a two-year varsity letter-winner fro Saint Mary's where he tied for third in the 1999 West Coast Conference Championship. Smith has competed in all five tournaments this season and recorded a 75.06 season average.
The Incredible Mr. Watney
Sophomore Nick Watney (Dixon, Calif.) continues to amaze with his phenomenal skills on the links. Being the lone freshman on last year's squad, Watney competed in 11 tournaments last season, including the WAC, NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championships. He tied for ninth in the NCAA West Regional and was awarded the WAC freshman of the year award. Watney has a season average of 71.33, setting a new career low of 65 this season in Hawaii. He qualified for the 2000 U.S. Amateur and was chosen by Golf World magazine this fall as one of the seven top sophomores in the country. Currently he has a Golfstate Cup individual ranking of 26th, giving him the highest position in the WAC. He was also the first Bulldog in four years to win a tournament when he tied the Inverness course record low of 68, and Michigan's Scott Hayes with a three-round total of 213.
`Dogs Place Sixth at Hawaii
Fresno State placed sixth, defeating all Section 7 teams except New Mexico, at the John Burns Intercollegiate Classic in Hawaii on Feb. 21-23. The `Dogs finished at 858 points, a 6-under-par at the Leleihua Golf Course in Honolulu. Nick Watney finished in second, jumping from his eighth placing after round 2. Watney shot 68-71-65-204, tieing him with Lee Williams from Auburn. Placing T16 was Dustin Smith who shot 72-65-75-212, a 4-under-par. Fellow junior Jonathon Echols (Hanford, Calif.) placed T47 after shooting 69-74-77-220. Senior Wes Lovell (Cockeysville, Md.) shot 77-76-71-224 to finish T69 with freshman Chad Spencer (Rocklin, Calif.) finishing T95, shooting 80-80-75-235. New Mexico swept both the team and Individual titles. The team scored an 832 and Michael Letzig shot 66-64-69-199, a 17-under-par.
THIS WEEKMar. 5-6 Mon.-Tue. Clevland Golf CollegiateNorth Ranch C.C. Los Angeles, Calif.
NEXT ACTIONMar. 19-20 Mon.Tue. San Diego InvitationalShadow Ridge C.C. San Diego, Calif.
LAST ACTIONFeb. 21-23 Mon.-Tue. John Burns IntercollegiateLeleihua G.C. 6th-858 pts.
