Golf Wins 2002 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate

Feb. 5, 2002

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State golf team competed Feb. 4-5 in the 2002 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate held at The Raven Golf Course. The team won the tournament with 848 (-4). Oklahoma State finished just one stroke behind the Bulldogs with 849 (-3). Pepperdine came in third with 852 (E). Univ. of New Mexico and host Arizona placed fourth with 853(+1).

"This was a very significant win in Fresno State's golf history," head coach Mike Watney said. "The field of play was filled with 20 very good college teams like ASU, USC, and UCLA."

The team garnered two individual top tens. All-American Nick Watney (Dixon, Calif.) finished second with a total score of 205 (-8). The junior has had two wins and two seconds this season. Sophomore Chad Spencer (Rocklin, Calif.) placed seventh in Arizona with a final score of 210 (-3). This is Spencer's second top five finish.

Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State won the tournament with 203 (-10) and Kevin Stadler of USC placed third with 206 (-7).

Fresno State was six strokes behind after Monday's first round of play placing them 10th with 290. In round two the team came out in full force. The Bulldogs jumped from 10th to first place on the strength of Watney's 64, Spencer's 66, Dustin Smith's 69 and Jonathan Echols' 71. Watney was in 40th place after the first round of play, jumped to fifth in the second, and finished in second place. Spencer was the only 'Dog in the top-10 after the first round of play.

Seniors Jonathan Echols (Hanford, Calif.) and Dustin Smith (Crescent City, Calif.) placed 49th and 52nd, respectively. Echols' final score was 73-71-75 -219. Smith finished with 80-69-71-220. Freshman Ian Nelson (Canyon Lake, Calif.) placed 64th in the tournament with a score of 75-74-74-223.

"This was a tremendous win," Mike Watney said. "We needed every stroke."

The Raven at Spanos Park is a par 71 course, has a rating of 72.4, a slope of 146 and is 6,900 yards facility. The 54-hole shotgun tournament started at 7:30 a.m. Monday. The second round of play was suspended due to darkness. The tournament continued Tuesday morning with the remaining holes from the second round and a final round of play.

The golf team is ranked on many polls:*Golfstat lists the team  at No. 14. Junior Nick Watney (Dixion, Calif.) is listed first in subpar strokes per round with 14.87.  He is also listed fifth in par five scoring with 4.50.*Golfweek lists the team at No.11 with a rating of 71.06. Two ??^TMDogs are listed in the Top-50 as Watney is ranked 29th and senior Jonathan Echols (Hanford, Calif.) is ranked 43rd.*Precept GCAA Top-25 Coaches Poll lists the team at No. 17.
Complete Results:
1st Fresno State 290-270-288 -8482nd Nick Watney 73-64-68 -2057th Chad Spencer 69-66-75 -21049th Jonathan Echols 73-71-75 -21952nd Dustin Smith 80-69-71-22064th Ian Nelson 75-74-74-223

Fresno State Athletics

Golf Wins 2002 Ping Arizona Intercollegiate

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