Men’s Golf Preview: Nick Watney Invitational

Fresno State Men's Golf – Tournament No. 2
Tournament: Nick Watney Invitational
Format: Stroke play/54 holes/5-count-4 (36/Monday)
Host: Fresno State
Dates: Oct, 1-2
Golf Course: Dragonfly Golf Club
Location: Madera, Calif. (10 minutes outside of Fresno, Calif.)
Live scoring: Golfstat.com

Fresno State Lineup:
Kevin Huff
Michael Cliff
Lane Pulliam
Alex Lee
Tyler Gardner

Individuals:
Cody Riecks
Tommy Stephenson
Seldon Doyle
Griffin Cooper

Competing Schools (12):
Fresno State – Host
BYU
Cal Poly
CSUN
Gonzaga
Nevada
Pacific
Sacramento State
Seattle
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara

Schedule of Events:
Monday, Oct. 1 – First & Second Rounds; Shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PT
Tuesday, Oct. 2 – Final round; Shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. PT

Dragonfly Golf Club:
As the tournament has moved around the Fresno, Calif., area over the years, 2018's host, Dragonfly Golf Club (located 10 minutes outside of Fresno, Calif.), is known for having giant oak trees, generous-sized rolling hybrid Bermuda fairways, large undulating bentgrass greens, five water hazards and nearly 100 bunkers. https://dragonflygolfclub.com/

Past Performers:
Some of the past competitors in the Nick Watney Invitational (called the Fresno State Classic and Fresno State Lexus Classic in years past) that went on to compete on the PGA Tour include Tom Watson, Craig Stadler, longtime Fresno State head coach Mike Watney, Johnny Miller, Ray Leach, Bobby Clampett, Scott Simpson, Wille Wood, Billy Andred, Arron Oberholser, Mike Springer, Phil Mickelson, Tim Norris and Fresno State standout Nick Watney to name a few.

2017 Team Champion: BYU (865)
2017 Medalist: Peter Kuest, BYU

Notes:

Fresno State will compete in its second tournament of the season; the Bulldogs opened 2018-19 at the Inverness Intercollegiate on Sept. 24 in Toledo, Ohio.
Alex Lee, Cody Riecks and Lane Pulliam all tied for 41^st at the Inverness Intercollegiate, but Kevin Huff led the team tied for 17^th place.
As a team, Fresno State finished 11^th out of a 12-team field.
Two of the 12 teams that wil visit the Nick Watney Invitational are programs that rank in the Golfstat top 100 (last poll released released June 6, 2018). Those teams are returning champion BYU and Nevada.
BYU won the fourth annual Nick Watney Invitational on Oct. 2-3, 2017, edging out second place finisher San Francisco by two strokes. The Cougars bested a field of 16 with a 13-over-par 865 with Peter Kuest also finishing at the top of the leaderboard individually. Teammate Patrick Fishburn was not far behind Kuest, finishing tied for third. San Francisco carded a 15-over-par 867 to lock down second place with separation from the rest of the field.
Fresno State finished fifth in last year's Nick Watney Invitational, led by Alex Lee and Justin Avery, who both finished tied for ninth place.
BYU, 2018 participant, owns the most tournament wins as a visiting contender at a Fresno State hosted men's golf tournament - sporting 14 in its all-time history.
Fresno State has captured its home-hosted tournament crown six times ('73, '84, '90, '94, '01, '02), with its last wins coming when Nick Watney led the team both seasons.
The tournament will be held for the 55^th time this season after the inaugural Fresno State Classic was held in 1964 and the Nick Watney Invitational was held in the fall and spring of 2014.
Weather at the Nick Watney Invitational on Monday (High 90F, Low 61F) is forecasted to have 5 mph winds and an 11 percent chance of rain; Tuesday (High 78F, Low 60F) is slated to have 7 mph winds and a 60 percent chance of rain.

Current Individual History at the Nick Watney Invitational

Cody Riecks
2017 (R-Jr): T-23rd place, 76-73-72=221 (+8)
2015 (So.): T-10^th place, 60-71-69=209 (-4)
2014 (Fr.): T-38^th place, 70-78-77=225 (+9)

Alex Lee
2017 (Jr): T-9th place, 71-74-73=218 (+5)
2016 (So.): T-8^th place, 69-71-72=212 (-1)
2015 (Fr.): T-44th place, 72-71-74=217 (+4)

Michael Cliff
2017 (Fr.): T-30th place, 73-75-75=223 (+10)

Kevin Huff
2017 (Fr.): T-58^th place, 79-71-79=229 (+16)

Lane Pulliam
2017 (Fr.): T-70th, 74-74-74=222 (+9)

What's Next for Fresno State:
Oct. 8-9: Alister MacKenzie Invitational
Fairfax, Calif. (Meadow Club)

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Men’s Golf Preview: Nick Watney Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Justin Avery

Michael Cliff

Seldon Doyle

Tyler Gardner

Kevin Huff

Alex Lee

Lane Pulliam

Cody Riecks

Tommy Stephenson

Fresno State Athletics