Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
USC Invitational
Doverspike Posts a Double-Eagle
2/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's golf team (288-300-290--878/+26) finished in a tie for seventh place out of a 13-team field at North Ranch Country Club during the USC Invitational. The Bulldogs shared the seventh place finish with San Diego State (878). The field was tough with some of the top ranked schools finishing in the top spots. The No. 7 ranked Stanford (839) finished the tournament on top by 10 strokes over BYU (849). Cal (858) took third place followed by No. 1 USC (859) and No. 20 UCLA (867). There were four teams that ranked in the Top 25, all of which compete in the PAC-10 conference.
The `Dogs showed improvement during the final round after posting a team total of 290, which was 10 strokes better than their previous. Coach Watney saw definite signs of improvement.
"We showed some great golf out there but still lacked the consistency of the top teams," said head coach Mike Watney. "We tied 28th ranked San Diego State and beat four other teams ranked ahead of us so we'll take the good from that and keep working."
Grant Doverspike pulled off one of the rarest feats in golf. He made a two on the 522 yard par five 8th hole at the North Ranch Country Club. He blasted a 312 yard drive in the center of the fairway and then lofted a 5-iron 210 yards to the difficult front-hole location. The ball landed about 12 feet short of the hole, checked a bit, and then rolled into the cup at perfect speed. The double-eagle, also known as an albatross, is far rarer than a hole in one.
Coach Mike Watney explained it this way,"A lot of golfers could hit a ball 210 yards into the hole but not many could first hit the drive 312 yards and then follow it up with a shot of 210 into the hole."
Doverspike, Fresno State's top finisher, tied for 13th place with 214. Doverspike finished 1-over par with rounds of 69-75-70. The `Dogs had another Top 20 finisher as freshman Bhavik Patel shot 2-over par 215 to finish tied for 15th. Bryan Hogan improved his game by shooting a third round score of 73 while placing 44th with 10-over 223. Brad Wyatt tied for 57 with 228 overall. Michael Gideon (82-79-73) tied for 75th place with 234 posting rounds that consistently improved towards the end of the tournament.
"Obviously, Grant played his normal outstanding game, Watney added. "I'm especially excited about our new recruit, Bhavik Patel. In only his second tournament, he shot under par on a very difficult course and finished in the top 20 in a very strong field." Watney is excited about hosting the Fresno State Lexus Classic in two weeks.
"Our next tournament will be the Classic at Belmont Country Club," said Watney. "We've got another great field that has 20 teams including Arizona State, Oklahoma, BYU and more. I hope we get a lot of fans because there are several bonafide tour-potential players in the field."
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"Join the State - Fresno State!"- The Fresno State men's golf team will be at home March 9-10 at Belmont Country Club for the 46th Annual Fresno Lexus Classic. The women's golf team hits the road for the Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational.
Players Mentioned
