THIS WEEK: After coming away with its first tournament win of the season at the Bill Cullum Invitational on Oct. 21-22, the Cal State Fullerton men's golf team sets its sight on the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, in Princeville, Kaui, beginning on Monday. This will be the Titans final fall tournament of the 2013 calendar season.
THE COURSE: The tournament will be held at a par-72 7,223-yard course at the Princeville Makai Golf Club at the St. Regis Princeville Resort.
THE FORMAT: The tournament will begin at 7:30 a.m. HST both Monday and Tuesday for the first and second rounds, respectively. The final round begins Wednesday with an 8:00 a.m. HST shotgun start.
THE FIELD: Cal State Fullerton will compete against 16 other teams, including Arizona State, Baylor, Boise State, Cal Poly, East Tennessee State, host Hawai'i, Idaho Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, and Utah.
RESULTS: Please visit Fullertontitans.com for scores and recaps.
IN THE RANKINGS: Following their tournament victory, Cal State Fullerton moved up in the rankings to No. 74 in the nation according to the Golfstat.com NCAA Head-to-Head rankings. The field features a number of top ranked teams, including three teams ranked in the top-50: No. 22 Baylor, No. 27 Arizona State, and No. 45 East Tennessee State. There will be six teams inside the top-100: No. 58 Mississippi State, No. 71 Louisville, No. 80 San Francisco, No. 83 Mississippi, No. 91 Middle Tennessee State, and No. 95 San Diego.
LAST YEAR AT THE WARRIOR WAVE: Fullerton finished 12th last year at the Warrior Wave Princeville Intercollegiate, shooting 884 (+20) over the three days. On the final day, Mark Anguiano shot a 69 (-3), to finish (221, +5) ending the tournament tied for 29th. Corey Gard finished tied for 50th, after posting a 224 (+8).
TITANS CLINCH TITLE AT BILL CULLUM INVITATIONAL: Trailing Arizona State by 11 shots to begin the third round, the Titans shot a 281, the lowest score of the day during the final round, finishing the tournament at 15-under par (849), edging San Diego at 14-under par (850) by one stroke. The tournament victory gave the Titans their seventh overall event championship since the program was reinstated for the 2009-10 season.
BIG WEST HONOR FOR TITAN: Mark Anguiano was named the Big West Conference Golfer of the Month for September. Anguaino's award is the first for the men's program since the sport returned to campus in 2009.
TITANS STORM INTO THIRD IN IDAHO: Standing in a tie for seventh after the first 36 holes on Sept. 23 at the Dash Thomas Memorial, the Titans combined to shoot an even-par 284 in the final round to match Seattle University and post their second, top-three finish of the season. Fullerton finished 14 shots off the pace of tournament champion Sacramento State and just two shots behind Idaho for second place.
ANGUANA RUNNER-UP IN IDAHO: At the Dash Thomas Memorial, senior Mark Anguiano, shot a final round 66 to finish second overall and help Cal State Fullerton shoot the lowest final round of the day to rush up the leader board and finish tied for third. Utah State's Tanner Higham took home the individual honors with an 8-under-par 205, just one shot ahead of Anguiano.
FIRST EVER TRIP TO IDAHO: The Titans traveled to Idaho on Sept. 23-24, for the first time since the program was reinstated in 2009. Last season, Fullerton played in three tournaments outside of California finishing in fourth, eighth, and 12th place (Washington, Hawaii, Arizona).
ITANI QUALITY HOMES COLLEGIATE: The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team made a late rally to top the leaderboard, but fell just one stroke short of Washington State at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate on Sept. 9-10. The Titans shot 837 (-2) over two days of play.
MAKING HIS MARK: Mark Anguiano was the highest finishing Titan at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate after shooting a third round 65 on (Sept. 10), and finishing six-under par overall. Anguiano finished tied for third overall after shooting 204. The 65 score by Anguiano was the best individual round since John San Juan shot a 65 at the Del Walker Invitational on Oct. 22, 2009.
Also at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, senior Corey Gard shot a final round 71 (+1) to finish tied for fifth place with a total score of 207. He shot a 4-under, 66, in round one and an even-par, 70, in the second round. Junior Ryan Tetrault finished strong for the Titans, finishing tied for fifth overall with a total score of 207. Redshirt senior Scott Rubzin shot a 223 overall to finish tied for 55th overall. Josh Park finished the tournament tied for 65th with an overall score of 225.
ROUNDS AT PAR OR BETTER IN 2013-14:
Mark Anguiano (9):
65 (-5) – 3rd Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 10, 2013
66 (-5) – 3rd Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 24, 2013
67 (-5) – 2nd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
69 (-3) – 3rd Round – Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
69 (-1) – 2nd Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
70 (-1) – 2nd Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 23, 2013
70 (-1) – 1st Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 22, 2013
71 (-1) – First Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
70 (E) – 1st Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
Corey Gard (7):
66 (-4) – 1st Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
69 (-3) – 2nd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
70 (-2) – 3rd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
70 (-1) – 3rd Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 24, 2013
71 (-1) – 1st Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
70 (E) – 2nd Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
71 (E) – 2nd Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 23, 2013
Ryan Tetrault (4):
67 (-3) – 2nd Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
68 (-2) – 3rd Round – Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 10, 2013
70 (-2) – 3rd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
71 (-1) – 2nd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
Kyle De Silva (2):
72 (E) – 1st Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
72 (E) – 3rd Round - Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
TAP-INS:
- Following the Warrior Princeville Invitational, the Titans won't return to the course until 2014, as Fullerton travels to Tucson, Ariz., for the Arizona Intercollegiate on Jan. 27-28, at the Sewailo Golf Club.
- Corey Gard played in his 100th career round as a Titan at the Bill Cullum Invitational. Gard (100) became the third Titan respectively to join the 100-career round club, joining teammate Mark Anguiano (103) and former Titan Dakota Duerr (127).
- Scott Rubzin has currently played in 99 rounds, and is set to become the fourth Titan to play 100 career rounds.
- Anguiano has now recorded 14 top-ten finishes in his career, which is most all-time by a Titan.
- After finishing runner-up in consecutive tournaments, Anguiano has now finished runner-up four times during his career, including seven top-5 finishes.
- Corey Gard has now recorded eight, top-10 finishes in his career, breaking a tie with teammate Ryan Tetrault for third most in the program since it was reinstated in 2009.
- Mark Anguiano has also recorded nine straight rounds at par or better to start the season.
- Yet again, the Titans improved their 2012 to 2013 score at the Bill Cullum Invitational. In 2012, playing the same course at Par 72, Fullerton finished four-over par compared to 15-under par in 2013.
- Anguiano (six-under) and Gard (four-under) led the field in Par 4 scoring with a 3.80 and 3.87 respectably, at the Bill Cullum Invite.
- Freshman Kyle De Silva had his best finish for the season at the Bill Cullum Invite, finishing the tournament at 1-over (217), in a tie for 23rd.
- The Titans score of 849 at the Bill Cullum Invite tied for their second lowest 54-hole team score. The previous 849 occurred at the Del Walker Intercollegiate on Feb. 25-26, 2013.
A LOOK AT THE TITANS: Fullerton returns four of its golfers that were in the lineup for the 2013 Big West Conference Championships, including senior Mark Anguiano, who earned All-Big West First Team honors last season. Senior Corey Gard and junior Ryan Tetrault also return after receiving All-Big West Second Team accolades in 2013. The Titans will have to replace four-year starter Dakota Duerr, but redshirt senior Scott Rubzin returns to the lineup after missing last season due to an injury. Fullerton welcomes four newcomers to the fold this season in freshman Kyle De Silva (Orange, Calif./Villa Park HS), Martin Manalo (West Covina, Calif./Servite HS), Matt Murphy (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic HS), and Hunter Thompson (Richland, Wash./Richland HS).
SEASON SCHEDULE: Cal State Fullerton's 2013-14 campaign features ten tournaments before the Big West Championship and NCAA Regionals. The Folino Invitational will again highlight the Titans season. The fourth annual Folino Invitational has became one of the premier collegiate golf events and will be hosted at the Industry Hills Golf Club in the City of Industry, Calif., on Feb. 16-18. Fullerton will also head to various states this season, including Arizona, Idaho, and Hawaii.
A LOOK BACK AT 2012-13: Fullerton, a program reinstated in 2009, claimed its first conference championship in school history last season. The team eventually lost to Pacific in a playoff to clinch an automatic NCAA berth, but the Titans ended its most successful season winning two tournaments and finishing second in three tournaments (Firestone Grill, Sacramento State Invite, Anteater Invite). Head coach Jason Drotter was named the 2013 Big West Coach of the Year, while four student-athletes took home All-Big West honors.