Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
NCAA West Regional
Watney Advances to NCAA Finals
5/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 19, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - Bulldog golfer Nick Watney will advance to the NCAA Finals in Durham, N.C. after finishing fourth in the NCAA West Regional that concluded play Saturday. The Regional was hosted by Oregon State at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, Ore.
Watney shot a 70 in today's final round boosting him from a T9 position to a T4. The WAC Player of the Year, Watney finished the tournament with at 3-under 213. Watney was the lowest scoring player from a team that did not qualify.
The Bulldogs ended in 15th with 896. Arizona State dominated posting a 12-under 852, 15 strokes under second place Arizona. Two players tied at 208 for the win, Kyle Tompson from South Carolina and Matt Jones form Arizona State.
Also finishing in the top-20 was junior Jonathon Echols, who finished T19. Echols fired in a final round 71, giving him a 3-over 219. Dropping from his tournament high round of 80 yesterday, freshman Chad Spencer moved himself up from T11 to T96. Struggling in the final rounds, junior Dustin Smith and sophomore Daniel Timmons finished T126. Smith started strong tuning in a 75 in the first round, but finished with a totla of 240 after his final round 82. Timmons shot 85 today after shooting his tournament low score of 77 yesterday.
Although the tournament will conclude the season for most of the Bulldogs, Watney's work is not done yet. Watney will now travel to Duke for the NCAA tournament final on May 30-June 2. This will be the second time in the tournament for the sophomore who finished T62 last year.
