Fresno State drops opening match to Cal Poly 4-1, bounces back with imminent victory over Menlo

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Fresno State men's golf was back on the course on Monday at the MacKenzie Match Play Tournament, hosted by San Francisco at Pasatiempo Golf Club. The No. 4 seed Bulldogs fell to No. 5 seed Cal Poly in their first match 4-1, as Lane Pulliam was the lone victor among the 'Dogs. Fresno State would bounce back in its second match of the day versus Menlo College. While the match was cut short due to rain, the Bulldogs have already captured three out of the five matchups to secure the victory, which will be official tomorrow.

Match 1 – vs. Cal Poly
Lane Pulliam was the lone Bulldog to win his opening match. The match was all square as late as the 12th hole but the freshman never trailed as he ended up winning 2-and-1.

Alex Lee lost his match in heartbreaking fashion. He was 1-up with two holes to play but Jimmy Castles of Cal Poly would tie it up on hole 17 before the competitors halved the 18th. Castles would log a par on the playoff hole to take the match as Lee settled for a bogey.

Michael Cliff was down by four strokes after nine holes. The freshman shrunk the deficit to three strokes with three holes to play but both competitors holed pars on No. 16 as Cliff dropped his matchup 3-and-2.

Similar to Lee, Kevin Huff's match came down to the final hole. The third freshman in the Fresno State lineup was all square with Tanner Podres after 17 holes, but Huff would bogey the 18th while Podres carded a par.

Cody Riecks was down two strokes after 12 holes. Riecks faltered a bit on holes 13-15 as the deficit grew to four strokes with three to play. As a result, the Mustangs' Thomas Lehman would take the match 4-and-3.

Match 2 – vs. Menlo College
Alex Lee was solid in his second match of the day. The match was all square after four holes but by the turn, Lee was up by three strokes. The junior would end up taking the match 4-and-3 over Fredrik Ingul.

Lane Pulliam cruised to improve to 2-0 on the day. Pulliam was three strokes up on Christian Ingul after nine holes and wound up winning the match 5-and-4.

Kevin Huff was dominant in his second match. Huff was six strokes ahead after the front nine and would take the match 7-and-6 over Colin Casey.

Michael Cliff and Cody Riecks didn't complete their matches due to rain. Cliff is currently down by one stroke through 12 holes to Davis Harris. Riecks is 1-up on Te Shu Kung through 11 holes.

WEATHER – STAY TUNED
The weather may still be an issue with rain in the forecast for Tuesday. Updates regarding day two will be given ahead of tomorrow's scheduled rounds.

MacKenzie Match Play
Dates: March 12-13, 2018
Round 1 Results
Par: 70; yardage: 6,500 yards

Team Results:
Marquette over Menlo, 4-1
Wyoming over Sacramento State, 5-0
Cal Poly over Fresno State, 4-1
USF over Cal State Monterey Bay, 4-1

Fresno State Results:
Jimmy Castles (CP) over Alex Lee (FS), 1-up
Lane Pulliam (FS) over Nick Engelhardt (CP), 2-and-1
Mitch Martin (CP) over Michael Cliff (FS), 3-and-2
Tanner Podres (CP) over Kevin Huff (FS), 1-up
Thomas Lehman (FS) over Cody Riecks (FS), 4-and-3

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Fresno State Athletics

Fresno State drops opening match to Cal Poly 4-1, bounces back with imminent victory over Menlo

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Players Mentioned

Michael Cliff

Kevin Huff

Alex Lee

Lane Pulliam

Cody Riecks

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