By Jordan Newby
Long Beach State men’s golf placed second in the Nick Watney Invitational Tuesday. The Beach battled for first against Brigham Young University and Fresno State in rounds one and two and ultimately lost to the Cougars.
“It’s so exciting when you’re in the lead, but that’s why you play the game,” said head coach Michael Wilson. “Being in contention, that’s when it gets fun. It was really enjoyable and I’m really happy for the guys.”
The tournament concluded with Long Beach shooting 25 under par.
Senior Hunter Epson won the invitational shooting 13 under par. Epson clinched first place after a sudden-death playoff against BYU’s Peter Kuest. Epson won the invitational after sinking an 18-foot putt to secure a birdie.
“Hunter did awesome last week, being tied for first and not getting a chance to [play] the final round [due to weather conditions],” Wilson said. “Having the opportunity to do so today was good and a great experience for the boys going forward. I’m sure we will be back in that situation again.”
Long Beach State’s Athletic Player of the Week, freshman Owen Avrit, finished with seven birdies and tied for ninth place, finishing eight under par. Freshman Bryce Kvick finished five under par and tied for 16th place.
“That’s awesome to have a true freshman win last week, and have another individual victory this week against Peter Kuest, probably one of the best college players right now,” Wilson said. Hunter wanted to go in a playoff with [Kuest] to solidify the spot, he made about a 18- footer on the second playoff hole to win. Really proud of the guys they have been working really really hard.”
The other schools competing in the Nick Watney Invitational were: BYU, San Jose State, University of San Diego, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, CSU Northridge, Seattle University, University of the Pacific, Sacramento State, Gonzaga, UC Irvine, Cal Poly, Cal Baptist and UC Riverside.
Long Beach State will be back in action Oct. 7 and 8 at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational hosted by UC Berkeley.
