Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Mountain West Championships
Trevor Clayton wins 2016 MW individual title
4/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
By: Matt Burkholder
mburkholder@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
2016 MW Men's Golf Championship Results 
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Fresno State junior Trevor Clayton won the 2016 Mountain West Men's Golf Individual Championship on Sunday at OMNI Tucson National. He fired a final day 3-under-par 69 to comeback from two shots behind entering the day, to win the championship by two strokes with a 54-hole 9-under-par 207. Clayton is the first Bulldog to win an individual conference championship since Grant Doverspike won the 2007 WAC title.
"It was an awesome day today," said Clayton. "I got off to a fast start, and just kept it going all day. Played steady, smooth, and it made for a fun day."
In spite of a bogey on hole number one, Clayton fired five birdies over the next seven holes to drop to 10-under-par for the tournament and take the outright lead. A double on the ninth-hole could not slow Clayton's momentum down as he answered with two birdies over the next three holes.
Down the stretch, Clayton owned a two-shot lead over Corey Eddings (Nevada), and with Eddings' scorecard turned in at 7-under-par, Clayton closed out the championship with six-straight pars to claim the first individual title for the Bulldogs in nine years.
Clayton fired five more birdies than the next best individual total with 19 over 54 holes. Clayton's 207 was also his lowest on a par 72 course this season.
Not to be forgotten, as a team the Bulldogs finished in third, posting the schools best finish at the Mountain West tournament since joining the league in 2013. Their 54-hole 5-under-par 859 was also Fresno State's lowest total on a par 72 course this season. Aided by Clayton's individual high, Fresno State led the 11-team field with 59 birdies.
"This week was a tremendous team effort," said head coach Chad Spencer. "The guys competed all 54 holes and to have the individual Mountain West Champion Trevor Clayton continuing to set the standard for Fresno State golf makes the future very bright."
"It's huge," Clayton added about the `Dogs taking third place. "It was a big improvement from last year and we'll build on this moving forward and keep things rolling."
Two others posted scores par or better on Sunday, Greg Gildea (71) and Troix Tonkham (72). Gildea matched his weekend-low while Tonkham had his best round of the tournament on the final day. Gildea placed tied for 22nd and Tonkham tied for 43rd.
Justin Avery, who shot a 4-over-par 76 Sunday, tied Gildea for 22nd. And alike Tonkham, Alex Lee placed 43rd after wrapping up his tournament with a 6-over-par 78 on the final day.
Looking ahead to postseason play, Clayton clinched a bid and will play at one of six sites that is to be determined on May 5 during the NCAA DI selection show live on the Golf Channel.
MW Championships
Dates: April 22-24, 2016
Final Results
Par: 72; Yardage: 7,194
Team Leaderboard
1. UNLV: 286-281-279=846 (-18)
2. New Mexico: 280-285-284=849 (-15)
3. Fresno State: 275-296-288=859 (-5)
T4. Colorado State: 281-292-287=860 (-4)
T4. San Diego State: 280-292-288=860 (-4)
6. Wyoming: 290-290-281=861 (-3)
7. Nevada: 282-291-293=866 (+2)
8. San Jose State: 295-289-285=869 (+5)
9. Boise State: 291-289-292=872 (+8)
10. Air Force: 287-293-298=878 (+14)
11. Utah State: 293-291-298=882 (+18)
Fresno State Leaderboard
1. Trevor Clayton: 66-72-69=207 (-9)
T22. Greg Gildea: 71-75-71-217 (+1)
T22. Justin Avery: 69-72-76=217 (+1)
T43. Troix Tonkham: 76-77-72=225 (+9)
T43. Alex Lee: 69-78-78=225 (+9)
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Players Mentioned
