FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team return to the links and travel to Simi Valley, Calif., to defend its 2013 crown at the Bill Cullum Invitational as one of 21 teams competing in the two-day tournament hosted by CSUN at the Wood Ranch Golf Club on Monday-Tuesday.
Play begins at 7:45 a.m. on Monday for the first 36-holes, and will conclude Tuesday for the final 18-holes at 7 a.m.
THE COURSE: The two-day event will be contested at the Wood Ranch Golf Club (WRGC), a par-72 configuration over the 54-hole event. Playing at 6,819-yards, the WRGC layout pays homage to the grand courses of Scotland. Deep pot bunkers, an abundance of lush vegetation, and numerous lakes, creeks, and streams create both strategic diversity and a picturesque backdrop of the Conejo Valley.
THE FIELD: Competing alongside the Titans and Matadors will be a host of Big West foes in Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara, while Arizona State, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, St. John's, Sacramento State, San Diego, Santa Clara, Southern Utah, Utah State, USC, Washington State and Weber State round out the 21-team field.
KEEP ME LIVE!: Live scoring will be available for both days at Golfstat.com. Please click here or visit http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=7145 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 three tournaments in the 2014-15 men's golf season, Cal State Fullerton is ranked No. 219 in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, facing a field that features four teams ranked within the top-100 in this week's tournament: USC highlights the field at No. 24, while Arizona State is No. 53, Washington State is No. 58, San Diego is No. 73, Santa Clara is No. 105, Long Beach State is No. 129, Utah State is No. 136, Pepperdine is No. 140, UC Santa Barbara is No. 143, Southern Utah is No. 144, Fresno State is No. 158, Loyola Marymount is No. 169, Cal Poly is No. 183, UC Irvine is No. 186, Sacramento State is No. 190, Host CSUN is No. 197, Weber State is No. 203 and UC Riverside is No. 238. Hawai'i and St. John's are currently unranked by Golfweek/Sagarin.
DEFENDING THE CROWN AT THE BILL CULLUM INVITATIONAL:
Cal State Fullerton enters the 2014 Bill Cullum Invitational as the defending champion after the Titans overtook San Diego and Arizona State on the final day of competition in the 2013 event.
In a miraculous comeback, Fullerton (288-280-281—849, -15) trailed Arizona State by 11 shots to begin the final round and fired a 7-under-par 281 to clinch the title.
Fullerton edged San Diego at 14-under par 850 by one stroke, while Arizona State shot a final round of 290 (+2), to finish the invitational in third place with an overall score of 11-under-par 853.
At the time, the tournament victory gave the Titans their seventh overall event championship since the program was reinstated for the 2009-10 season.
Long Beach State's Daniel Chian (72-68-66—206, -10) is the defending champion as the individual medalist.
Among Fullerton returners, Ryan Tetrault (74-71-70—215, -1) finished the tournament tied for 14th as the third-best Titan finisher behind former CSF golfers Mark Anguiano (71-67-69—207, -9) and Corey Gard (71-69-70—210, -6).
Kyle De Silva (72-73-72—217, +1) finished the tournament in a tie for 23rd while Josh Park (74-73-73—220, +4) concluded the event in a tie for 35th to round out the Titan lineup.
2013 Bill Cullum Invitational - Cal State Fullerton Team/Individual Results
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LAST TIME ON THE LINKS: The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team completed play at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in 17th place on Sept. 29-30 at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo. Due to heavy rain and lightning the tournament was deemed to be final after 36-holes with a cancellation of the third round.
The Titans tallied a final score of 600 (+24) after firing a first round 9-over-par 297 and 15-over-par 303 second round. Tournament host Colorado (276-280—556, -20) walked away with the victory, wrapping up the event as the only team to finish with an overall score under-par by double digits while being 12-strokes ahead of the nearest competitor.
The Buffalos shot a final round of 8-under-par 280 to clinch the team title. Colorado was followed by San Diego (-8, 568), Denver (-7, 569), Missouri-Kansas City (-2, 574), Utah State (+3, 579) and Houston Baptist (+3, 579) to round out the top-five. Colorado's David Oraee used a 5-under-par 67 final round to garner the individual title at 13-under-par 131.
Cal State Fullerton's Kyle De Silva (70-73—143, -1) paced the Titans for a tie in 15th place. The sophomore sunk a team-high eight birdies over the 36-holes.
Fullerton senior Ryan Tetrault (74-74—148, +4) posted a 39th place finish while fellow CSF senior Josh Park (78-76—154, +10) concluded the two-day tournament in a tie for 74th place on the leaderboard.
Participating in his second event of the season for the Titans, Michael Choe (79-80—159, +15) finished the event in a tie for 85th with teammate Mark Jensma (75-84—159, +15).
ROUNDS AT PAR OR BETTER IN 2014-15:
Ryan Tetrault (1):
68 (-3) – 3rd Round – Southwestern Intercollegiate, Sept. 9, 2014
Kyle De Silva (1):
72 (E) – 1st Round – Saint Mary's Invitational, Sept. 15, 2014
70 (-2) – 1st Round – Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, Sept. 29, 2014
TAP-INS:
• Last season's Bill Cullum Invitational was the first of four team titles for Fullerton as the Titans went onto clinch the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, Folino Invitational and Big West Championship titles.
• 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 team-high 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.
• Three Titans have taken over 400 strokes on the season (Mendoza 471; Tetrault 592; Park 604).
• 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.
• Three Titans own current season scoring averages below 76.00 (De Silva- 73.20, Tetrault- 74.00, Park- 75.50)
• Pending the completion of this week's Bill Cullum Invitational, Ryan Tetrault will become only the fifth Titan in program history to collect at least 110 career rounds. Tetrault currently stands at 108 rounds with 18 projected rounds left in the 2014-15 season.
SEASON SCHEDULE: Cal State Fullerton's 2014-15 campaign features ten tournaments before the Big West Championship and NCAA Regionals. The Folino Invitational will again highlight the Titans season after Fullerton broke several event records en route to its first title at its host event last season. The fifth annual Folino Invitational has become one of the premier collegiate golf destinations and will be hosted at the Industry Hills Golf Club in the City of Industry, Calif., on Feb. 16-17.
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).
LOOKING BACK AT THE WRATH OF THE TITANS: After losing in a playoff to Pacific for an NCAA berth in 2012-13, Fullerton rebounded in a big way in 2013-14 to capture its second consecutive conference championship, and first outright title to earn a postseason appearance in the Sugar Grove Regional. 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).