By Fort Collins Country Club proved quite the test for the Long Beach State men’s golf team, who shot 33-over par 873 to finish 10th at the Ram Masters Invitational after Tuesday’s final round.
LBSU’s struggles resulted in only one player cracking the top-10 on the leaderboard, while the other four fell to 46th or worse.
“We came out here to win,” head coach Michael Wilson said. “Of course we’re going to be disappointed with anything less.”
FCCC is a 7,218 yard par-70 course that is currently in “championship condition” according to Wilson. The majority of the 104 player field struggled as the average score in the tournament was a 73.56.
“It was a course that really made the guys think,” Wilson said. “It was really tough but it was also a good benchmark for us to see where we are at.”
Junior Joe Fryer had the best handle on the track, shooting 69,72 and 68 for a 1-under 209 three round score and tied for eighth best in the field. It is now the second consecutive event that Fryer has shot below par, after a 9-under 204 at the Itani Quality Homes Invitational in Washington last week.
“He really is quite a good player,” Wilson said. “He has an even-keel presence on the course and can just hit shots that most other guys can’t.”
Sophomore Hunter Reed was 10-over par and finished tied for 46th, junior Andres Gonzalez was 14-over par and claimed the 66th spot, senior Nick Cantlay shot 15-over par and was tied for 73rd and junior Patrick Pockels was 16-over par and finished tied for 77th.
“Golf is a game where you’re going to do a lot of losing,” Wilson said. “This week was a good learning experience and playing courses like FCCC can only make you better.”
The 49ers will regroup during their three week break before the Bill Cullum Invitational hosted by CSUN in Simi Valley, California on Oct. 16-17.
