FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton men's golf team completed play at the Bill Cullum Invitational in 19th place at the Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif., on Tuesday. Due to heavy fog and lack of daylight during yesterday's second round, teams completed both the second and third rounds to conclude the 36-hole tournament.
The Titans tallied a final score of 898 (+34) after firing a final round of 9-over-par 297 and second round 16-over-par 304 on Tuesday afternoon. 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 from first to 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. Arizona State's Jon Rahm used a 5-under-par 67 second round and 3-under-par 69 final round to garner the individual title at 13-under-par 203. A pair of Trojans in Rico Hoey (-12, 204) and Jonah Texeira (-11, 205) capped off the top-three on the individual leaderboard.
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 36-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 an 8-over-par 80 second round, 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).
With the conclusion of the Bill Cullum Invitational, the Titans have now completed the fall portion of the men's golf schedule. Cal State Fullerton will take a three-month break before returning to the links on Jan. 26-27 when they travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the Arizona Intercollegiate at the Sewailo Golf Club to kick off the spring.