Fresno State Athletics
Golf Qualifies for NCAA Regional
5/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 9, 2001
Bulldogs Qualify for NCAA Regional
For the 13th consecutive season, Fresno State has qualified and will compete in the NCAA West Regional. The tournament, which has hosted by the Bulldogs last year, will be hosted by Oregon State this year at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, Ore on May 17-19. If the Bulldogs can score in the top-10 they will be traveling to Duke for the NCAA Championships.
Regional Number 12
The Bulldogs scored a three-round 851 to tie sixth in the 1999-2000 NCAA West Regional hosted at the Riverbend Golf Course. After their finish in the tournament , the `Dogs moved up to a number four national ranking and packed their bags for Auburn, Ala. The Bulldogs went on to finish 13th at the championships, the highest NCAA Championship finish since 1990. Sophomore Nick Watney (Dixon, Calif.) led the scoring with his final score of 211 and a tie for ninth place. Watney is the sole returning player from last year's team.
Watney Named WAC Player of the Year
Nick Watney has chalked up another honor for his excellence on the links. Watney was named to the all-WAC first team and the 2001 Player of the Year. Watney has been the WAC's highest rated player for much of the season and finished seventh at the WAC Championship. A consistent member of the top-10 club, Watney shared medalist honors at the Inverness Collegiate in September and followed with a second-place outing at the John Burns Intercollegiate in February. In March, Watney took top honors at the San Diego Invitational and then tied for fifth at the CG Morris Invite. Ranked as high as fifth by Golfstat during the season, Watney is currently ranked 12th in the nation. In 34 rounds he boasts a 71.5 average, the lowest average in Fresno State history.
`Dogs Tie for Sixth at WAC
Fresno State tie Hawai'i for sixth place in the 2001 WAC Championship tournament held in Tulsa, Okla. on April 30-May 2. The Bulldogs struggled with the difficult course amidst 40 mph gusts of wind to score 299-308-317-924. Leading the `Dogs in scoring was junior Jonathon Echols (Hanford, Calif.). Echols scored consistent shooting 72-76-76-224 and finished tied for fifth. Nick Watney started strong shooting a 70 in the first round tieing for second, but fell off coming up with 77 and 78 in the final rounds to finish in seventh place with 225. Junior Dustin Smith (Crescent City, Calif.) tied at 41st with his score of 242. Senior Wes Lovell (Cockeysville, Md.) scored 243 placing 43rd followed by sophomore Daniel Timmons (Carson City, Nev.) placing 44th with his score of 244. TCU won the tournament with 896, defeating Tulsa by just one stroke. Tulsa, however, had the individual winner in David Inglis whose score of 216 defeated TCU's Scott Volpitto by two strokes.
NEXT ACTIONMay 17-19 Thu.-Sat. NCAA West Regional Trysting Tree G.C. Corvallis, Ore.
LAST ACTIONApr. 2-3 Mon.-Tue. Western Intercollegiate Pasatiempo G.C. T10thApr. 13-14 Fri.-Sat. ASU Thunderbird Invtie. ASU Karsten G.C. 18thApr. 20-21 Fri.-Sat. Ben Hogan Cougar Classic Riverside C.C. 8thApr. 30- Mon.-Wed. WAC Championships Forest Ridge G.C. T6th May 2
