FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team return to the links and travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete at the Arizona Intercollegiate as one of 15 teams participating in the two-day tournament hosted by the University of Arizona at the Sewailo Golf Club on Monday-Tuesday.
Play begins at 8 a.m. on Monday for the first 36-holes, and will conclude Tuesday for the final 18-holes at 8 a.m.
THE COURSE: The two-day event will be contested at the brand new Sewailo Golf Club, playing at 7,262 yards from the tournament tees and par-71 for the 54-hole event.
THE FIELD: Competing alongside the Titans and Wildcats will be Arizona State, BYU, California, Delaware, Iowa State, LMU, McNeese State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Seattle and UTEP round out the 15-team field.
KEEP ME LIVE!: Live scoring will be available for both days at BirdieFire.com. Please click here or visit https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/6968/ for scores as they become available. Complete results will be posted on Cal State Fullerton's athletic website at Fullertontitans.com at the end of each day and the conclusion of competition.
IN THE RANKINGS: Following the completion of the first four tournaments in the 2014-15 men's golf season, Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 217 in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, facing a field that features five teams ranked within the top-50 in this week's tournament: New Mexico headlines the field at No. 20, followed by No. 21 California, No. 29 Arizona State, No. 43 Iowa State, No. 48 New Mexico State, No. 86 BYU, No. 88 Pacific, No. 107 Pepperdine, No. 118 Arizona, No. 119 McNeese State, No. 132 Seattle, No. 137 UTEP, No. 175 Loyola Marymount and No. 202 Delaware.
JASON DROTTER LOOKS FORWARD TO SPRING: FullertonTitans.com caught up with Cal State Fullerton men's golf head coach Jason Drotter as he prepares for the upcoming spring portion of the schedule and reflects on the team's progression thus far into the season. Check out the Q&A here.
MICROSEMI CORP. NAMED SPONSOR OF FOLINO INVITATIONAL: For the second-consecutive year, Microsemi will serve as the presenting sponsor of Cal State Fullerton's annual Folino Invitational to be held on Feb. 16-17 at the Industry Hills Golf Club in Industry Hills, Calif. Ahead of the collegiate event will be a fundraising tournament on Feb. 2 at the Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda, Calif.
LAST TIME OUT ON THE LINKS: The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team tallied a 19th place finish at the Bill Cullum Invitational on Oct. 20-21 at the Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif.
The Titans carded a final score of 898 (+34), while USC walked away with the victory with a score of 833 (-31), wrapping up the event as the only team to finish under-par by a whopping 30-strokes or more.
The Trojans shot a final round of 10-under-par 278 to clinch the team title by a margin of 11-strokes between first and second place. USC was followed by Arizona State (-20, 844), Washington State (-3, 861), UC Irvine (-1, 863) and Santa Clara (+1, 865) to round out the top-five squads.
With a total score of 222 (+6), Cal State Fullerton's Ryan Tetrault paced the Titans for a tie in 54th place. The senior carded identical second and third rounds at 74 (+2). Tetrault sunk seven birdies over the 54-holes.
Fullerton freshman Mark Cobey posted a final round 3-over-par 75 after a 5-over-par 77 second round, advancing eight slots from day one to finish tied for 62nd place with an overall score of 9-over-par 225. Sophomore Kyle De Silva chipped in a total score of 227 (+11) after a second round 6-over-par 78 and 3-over-par 75 in the final 18-holes. De Silva concluded the two-day tournament in a tie for 74th place, while also leading the squad with eight birdies.
Participating in his second event of the season for the Titans, Orange Coast College transfer Marcus Mercado-Kiel finished the tournament with an overall score of 228 (+12), collecting a final round of 5-over-par 77 after a second round 3-over-par 75. The Santa Ana, Calif., native fell into a tie for 79th.
Junior Mark Jensma completed the five-man Titan rotation firing a second round 8-over-par 80, followed by a team-best 1-over-par 73 in the third round. The Aliso Viejo, Calif., native concluded his second tournament of the season in a tie for 88th place with a total score of 231 (+15).
AT THE ARIZONA INTERCOLLEGIATE LAST SEASON: The Titan men completed play at the 2014 Arizona Intercollegiate at the Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz., in seventh place posting a final team total of 893 (+41) on Jan. 27-28.
At the time, No. 4 California (Golfstat.com rankings) walked away with the victory after finishing the tournament with a score of 853 (+1). The Golden Bears were followed by Arizona (868, +16), No. 19 New Mexico (870, +18), and No. 25 USC (872, +20) to round out the top-four teams.
Fullerton's Mark Anguiano finished tied for 23rd with an overall score of 221 (+8). Anguiano shot a team best of 71 (E) in the first round. Ryan Tetrault (225, +12) ended the tournament tied for 37th after recording a score of 75 (+4) on his final round.
Corey Gard shot 73 (+2) on his final 18-holes, ending the tournament 9-over-par 225 to tie for 28th in the standings. Josh Park also tied CSF teammate Tetrault for 37th place (225, +12). Kyle De Silva finished in 77th with a 27-over-par 240 to wrap up the two-day event.
ROUNDS AT PAR OR BETTER IN 2014-15:
Kyle De Silva (2):
72 (E) – 1st Round – Saint Mary's Invitational, Sept. 15, 2014
70 (-2) – 1st Round – Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Sept. 29, 2014
Ryan Tetrault (1):
68 (-3) – 3rd Round – Southwestern Intercollegiate, Sept. 9, 2014
TAP-INS:
• Fullerton's final score of 600 (+24) at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational (Sept. 29-30) was the fifth lowest 36-hole team score in program history.
• After posting a team-low score in the second round in seven of 12 tournaments in 2013-14, Fullerton continued that trend to open the 2014-15 campaign, firing a team-low 293 (+9) in the second round of the Southwestern Intercollegiate on Sept. 8.
• Sophomore Kyle De Silva is the only Fullerton men's golfer who has recorded multiple rounds at par or better after carding an even-par 72 at the Saint Mary's Invitational on Sept. 15 and a 2-under-par 70 at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational on Sept. 29.
• Ryan Tetrault recorded his 13th top-10 career finish after finishing eighth at the Southwestern Intercollegiate. Tetrault stands alone in the number two spot for most all-time behind Mark Anguiano (2011-14) who garnered a whopping 20 top-10 finishes over his illustrious tenure.
• A trio of Titans have participated in at least eight rounds of golf and taken over 500 strokes on the season (Tetrault 11 rounds/814 strokes; De Silva 8 rounds/593 strokes; Park 8 rounds/604 strokes).
• Fullerton has had one under-70 round this season, accomplished by Ryan Tetrault in the third round of the Southwestern Intercollegiate after firing a 3-under-par 68.
• Four Titans own current season scoring averages below 76.00 (Tetrault- 74.00, De Silva- 74.13, Park- 75.50, Cobey- 75.83).
• Following the completion of the Bill Cullum Invitational to close out the fall portion of the schedule, Ryan Tetrault became only the fifth Titan in program history to collect at least 110 career rounds. Tetrault currently stands at 111 rounds with at least 15 possible rounds left to play in the spring.
SEASON SCHEDULE: Cal State Fullerton's 2014-15 campaign features ten tournaments before the Big West Championship. The fifth-annual Folino Invitational has become one of the premier collegiate golf destinations and will again highlight the Titans season after Fullerton broke several event records en route to its first title at its host event last season.
Fullerton will also hit the links outside the state of California, visiting Arizona, Colorado, and Washington over the course of the season: 2014-15 Schedule
A LOOK AT THE TITANS: The Titans carded nine top-five finishes last season, while returning a pair of student-athletes that were in the lineup for the 2014 Big West Conference Championships. Ryan Tetrault garnered All-Big West First Team honors after carding six top-10 finishes in 2013-14. Kyle De Silva also returns for his sophomore campaign after earning valuable postseason experience at the Sugar Grove Regionals in Sugar Grove, Ill. De Silva participated in 11 of 12 events last season.
The Titans will have to replace Mark Anguiano, Corey Gard and Scott Rubzin, but welcome in five newcomers to the fold this season in freshman Michael Alvarez (Pomona, Calif./Coronado HS), Mark Cobey (Woodland, Calif./Jesuit HS), David Stitt (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal HS) and a pair of transfers, Nico Mendoza (Yorba Linda, Calif./Santiago Canyon College) and Marcus Mercado-Kiel(Santa Ana, Calif./Orange Coast College).
THE WRATH OF THE TITANS: After losing in a playoff to Pacific for an NCAA berth in 2012-13, Fullerton responded in a big way in 2013-14 to capture its second consecutive conference championship, and first outright title to earn its first postseason appearance at the Sugar Grove Regionals. The Titans ended their most successful season winning four tournaments (Bill Cullum Invitational, Warrior Princeville Makai Invite, Folino Invitational, Big West Championship) while finishing second in a pair of tournaments (Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, El Macero Classic).
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