Blog 243, 10/9/12 - Vikings Finish Third at Chico State

ccrawford
Craig Crawford
fter beginning the second and final day in second place at the Chico State Invitational at Sevillano Links in Corning, Calif. the Vikings shot a disappointing eight-over 296 to drop into third on 872 (+8). The final result may not have been what Coach Steve Card and his team were hoping for but they did at least have one thing to celebrate - Craig Crawford's ace on the 192-yard 16th hole - the first hole-in-one any Viking has ever made during Card's 20 years as coach.
“I’m very happy for Craig," said Card. "It’s one of those special moments in golf. For him to be able to do it in a tournament competition is a pretty cool deal. And for me, it’s the first time that has happened with one of my players. Ironically, a couple weeks ago, I made the comment about nobody on the team ever making a hole-in-one but Craig took care of that, and his folks were here to enjoy the moment with him.”  
Despite the hole-out Crawford could manage no better than a 76 and a three-round total of five-over 221 to finish the tournament tied for 18th alongside Jake Webb who closed with a 72. One shot better, and tied for 15th, was Jack Kelly who was making his season debut. Mark Strickland (GNC Player of the Week the last two weeks) and Evan Needham came in a shot behind Crawford and Webb, tied for 22nd. 
“It was another disappointing finish,” said Card. “We were close to having a good round and didn’t finish it off very well. I’m not sure why this continues to happen, but it’s something we need to address. But this one was much easier to swallow than last week (tied for third at Golfweek Invitational). Last week we just lost the tournament and this week we got beat. On the bright side, we got to see some new players play. We’ve now had all eight players on our roster compete. The results have been consistent, no matter the lineup, and it’s great to know we have that level of depth.”
Cal State Stanislaus won the event with a score of nine-under 855 (286) with Cal State Monterey Bay in second nine strokes behind. Rob Damschen of Cal State Stanislaus went wire-to-wire for the medalist title, shooting 7-under 209. Mark Geddes of Grand Canyon finished second on 210 while Anton Rosen of CSUMB was third a further shot back.
WWU completes the fall seson at the CSUMB Invitational, Oct 22-23.
“That is going to be a huge event for us,” said Card. “We have a couple weeks to prepare and it will be important for us to use that time wisely, because it will be one of the strongest fields we’ll see all year.”
Scores here.

bourlanddrives
Anna Bourland
Three days after finishing tied for third at the St Martin's Invitational in Olympia, the women's team wound up seventh at its own Viking Invitational played at Bellingham GCC. Starting the day in eighth spot after a very disappointing 40-over 332, the Vikings shot a much-improved 307 with nna Bourland the star of the show with a second-round 72 for a 36-hole total of seven-over 153. The sophomore from Bainbridge tied for eighth, six shots behind medalist Casara Hong of UBC.
The other Vikings in the field were Kristen Hansen who tied for 20th on 158; Kara Zitzman (last week's GNC Player of the Week after a tie for seventh at St Martin's) who shot a 79 to finish tied for 26th on 161; and Claire Rachor and Kalee Gibbons who both tied for 51st on 172. Katya Case and Emily Koryto, playing as individuals, finished T32 and 53rd respectively. 
Hawaii-Hilo won the tournament on 24-over 608 with UBC six shots behind in second.
Scores here. 

Check out this fun game for northwest golfers. Can you identify the 12 courses shown on pages 2-3 of this month's 'Golf Today NW'? I must confess, I only got eight. There are clearly still a few courses in the region I've still to play.
 
 

Add comment

Security code
Refresh