FULLERTON, Calif.-- After finishing sixth at the Del Walker Intercollegiate Golf Classic in Long Beach, Calif., last weekend the Cal State Fullerton men's golf team heads to Goodyear, Ariz., to participate in the Desert Shootout as one of 16 teams competing in the three-day tournament on Mar. 20-22.
THE COURSE: The three-day event will be contested at the Palm Valley Country Club, playing at 7,015 yards from the tournament tees and par 72 for the 54-hole event. Play begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday for the first round, continuing with a shotgun start on Friday at 8 a.m. for the second round, and will conclude Saturday for the final 18 holes at 7:30 a.m.
THE FIELD: Competing alongside the Titans will be squads from Bowling Green, BYU, Columbia, Creighton, Denver, Drake, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Kansas, Kansas City, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Southern Utah and host Kansas State.
IN THE RANKINGS: Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 50 in the nation according to the Golfstat.com NCAA team rankings, facing a field that features only one other competing team ranked higher than the Titans: BYU is No. 36, Long Beach State is No. 99, Idaho is No. 103, Kansas is No. 125, host Kansas State is No. 132, Denver is No. 141, Nebraska is No. 162, Columbia is No. 164, Southern Utah is No. 182, Bowling Green is No. 183, Northern Iowa is No. 199, Drake is No. 231, Creighton is No. 236 while Grand Canyon and Kansas City are currently unranked.
According to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, Fullerton is one of three top-100 ranked teams in the competition rated at No. 65; The rest of the field: BYU is No. 34, Long Beach State is No. 97, Idaho is No. 106, Kansas is No. 113, host Kansas State is No. 130, Denver is No. 139, Nebraska is No. 141, Columbia is No. 172, Southern Utah is No. 177, Bowling Green is No. 183, Northern Iowa is No. 204, Drake is No. 248, Creighton is No. 257 while Grand Canyon is No. 196 and Kansas City is currently unranked.
DESERT SHOOTOUT: This week will mark the first-ever participation for the Titans in the Desert Shootout in Arizona hosted by Kansas State. Last year's event featured course parameters of 6,925 yards with a par 71. BYU walked away with the 2013 crown with a final tally of (275-284-279—838, -14) while Zachary Blair also from BYU, took home the individual championship with a mark of (66-68-64—198, -15).
A LOOK BACK: Fullerton senior Mark Anguiano finished in third place with an overall score of 205 (-5) to pace the Titans to a sixth place finish at the Del Walker Intercollegiate at the Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, Calif. on Mar. 3-4, 2014.
The Titans shot a 7-under-par 553 over the first day of play, including a 276 (-4) second round and a score of 288 (+8) in the third round to finish 1-over-par 841. Minnesota walked away with the victory after finishing the tournament with a score of 4-under-par 836. The Gophers shot a 280 (E) final round. Minnesota was followed by Arizona (837, -3), UC Santa Barbara (837, -3), Long Beach State (838, -2) and Wichita State (840, E) to round out the top-five.
Senior Corey Gard finished tied for 16th with an overall score of 211 (+1). Junior Ryan Tetrault (213, +3) ended the tournament tied for 26th while fellow junior Josh Park shot a team-best 69 (-1) in the final round to end the tournament 6-over par 216 to tie for 35th in the standings. Fullerton freshman Kyle De Silva concluded the tournament with an overall score of 219 (+9) for the Titans.
Senior Scott Rubzin and sophomore Mark Jensma competed as individuals in the event. Rubzin fired a total score of 225 to stand at 15-over-par to finish tied for 56th place. Jensma fell nine spots from day one to finish in 62nd with an overall mark of 229 (+19).
HOME SWEET HOME: Cal State Fullerton excelled both as a team and individually at its host event in City of Industry, Calif., in the Folino Invitational on Feb. 17-18. Seven out of the 11 Titans on the 2013-14 Men's Roster produced their best finishes of the season:
Player: Individual Score/ Finish
Mark Anguiano- (66-68-70—204, -12), First Place
Ryan Tetrault- (72-78-72—222, -2), Second Place
Kyle De Silva- (74-74-79—227, +11), 14th Place
Josh Park- (78-76-74—228, +12), 16th Place
Scott Rubzin- (79-77-75—231, +15), 27th Place
Mark Jensma- (77-79-76—232, +16), 31st Place
Matt Murphy- (79-77-79—235, +19), 36th Place
HAVING A GOOD HABIT: The Titans have recorded a top-five finish in six out of the first eight events of the season:
Itani Quality Home Collegiate – (837, -3), Second Place, Sept. 9-10, 2013
Dash Thomas Memorial – (865, +13), Third Place, Sept. 23-24, 2013
Bill Cullum Invitational – (849, -15), First Place, Oct. 21-22, 2013
Warrior Princeville Invitational – (822, -42), First Place, Nov. 4-6, 2013
Folino Invitational – (863, -1), First Place, Feb. 17-18, 2014
Jones Invitational – (906, +42), Fifth Place, Feb. 24-25, 2014
SETTLING DOWN IN THE SECOND: In five of the eight tournaments, the Titans team shot a team-best round in the second round:
Itani Quality Home Collegiate: (277, -5), Second Place, Sept. 9, 2013
Bill Cullum Invitational: (280, -8), First Place, Oct. 21, 2013
Folino Invitational: (285, -3), First Place, Feb. 17, 2014
Jones Invitational: (300, +12), Fifth Place, Feb. 24, 2014
Del Walker Intercollegiate: (276, -4), Sixth Place, Mar. 3, 2014
ROUNDS AT PAR OR BETTER IN 2013-14:
Mark Anguiano (18):
70 (E) -- 1st Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 8, 2013
69 (-1) -- 2nd Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
65 (-5) -- 3rd Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 10, 2013
70 (-1) -- 1st Round – Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 22, 2013
70 (-1) -- 2nd Round -- Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 23, 2013
66 (-5) -- 3rd Round -- Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 24, 2013
71 (-1) -- 1st Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
67 (-5) -- 2nd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
69 (-3) -- 3rd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
65 (-7) -- 1st Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 4, 2013
66 (-6) -- 2nd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 5, 2013
70 (-2) -- 3rd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 6, 2013
71 (E) -- 1st Round – Arizona Intercollegiate, Jan. 27, 2014
66 (-6) -- 1st Round – Folino Invitational, Feb. 17, 2014
68 (-4) -- 2nd Round – Folino Invitational, Feb. 17, 2014
70 (-2) -- 3rd Round – Folino Invitational, Feb. 18, 2014
66 (-4) -- 1st Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
66 (-4) -- 2nd Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
Kyle De Silva (3):
72 (E) -- 1st Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
72 (E) -- 3rd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
67 (-5) -- 1st Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 4, 2013
Corey Gard (13):
66 (-4) -- 1st Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 8, 2013
70 (E) -- 2nd Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
71 (E) -- 2nd Round -- Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 23, 2013
70 (-1) -- 3rd Round -- Dash Thomas Memorial, Sept. 24, 2013
71 (-1) – 1st Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
69 (-3) – 2nd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
70 (-2) – 3rd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
70 (-2) -- 1st Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 4, 2013
69 (-3) -- 2nd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 5, 2013
72 (E) -- 3rd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 6, 2013
70 (-2) – 2nd Round – Jones Invitational, Feb. 24, 2014
67 (-3) – 1st Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
68 (-2) – 2nd Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
Josh Park (4):
72 (E) -- 1st Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 4, 2013
69 (-3) -- 2nd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 5, 2013
69 (-3) -- 3rd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 6, 2013
69 (-1) -- Third Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 4, 2014
Ryan Tetrault (12):
67 (-3) -- 2nd Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 9, 2013
68 (-2) -- 3rd Round -- Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 10, 2013
71 (-1) -- 2nd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 21, 2013
70 (-2) -- 3rd Round -- Bill Cullum Invitational, Oct. 22, 2013
70 (-2) -- 1st Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 4, 2013
70 (-2) -- 2nd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 5, 2013
65 (-7) -- 3rd Round -- Warrior Wave Princeville, Nov. 6, 2013
70 (-2) -- 2nd Round – Folino Invitational, Feb. 17, 2014
71 (-1) -- 3rd Round – Folino Invitational, Feb. 18, 2014
72 (E) -- 3rd Round – Jones Invitational, Feb. 25, 2014
69 (-1) -- 1st Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
70 (E) -- 2nd Round – Del Walker Intercollegiate, Mar. 3, 2014
TAP-INS:
• The first round of the Del Walker Intercollegiate on Mar. 3 marked only the second time this season that three Titans were able to shoot under-70 in the same round; Anguiano (66, -4), Tetrault (69, -1), Gard (67, -3).
• Following the Titans sixth place finish at the Del Walker Intercollegiate, Cal State Fullerton's team ranking dropped five spots from No. 45 to No. 50 in the Golfstat.com NCAA team rankings.
• Three Titans own current season scoring averages of below 72.00 (Anguiano- 69.75, Tetrault- 70.62, Gard- 71.95)
• Fullerton's overall score of (841, +1) at the Del Walker Intercollegiate was the lowest total score the Titans have marked since competition at the Warrior Princeville Invite on Nov. 4-7, 2013. This was still 19-strokes higher than the 822 (-42) in which the Titans finished an overall first place at the fall event.
• Fullerton has had 24 under-70 rounds this season led by 11 from Anguiano, five from senior Gard, and four from junior Tetrault.
• Three Titans have taken over 1,600 strokes on the season (Gard 1,727; Tetrault 1695; Anguiano 1,674).