By snoadmin
The 49er men’s golf team concluded the Del Walker Intercollegiate Golf Classic finishing in eighth place, improving upon last year’s 14th place finish by 26 strokes. The men finished their annual home event with a 5-over 857, a season-best score for the 49ers.
Their previous team-low was 877 at the Nevada Wolf Pack Classic last month in Reno, Nev.
The 49ers got off to a good start Thursday at Virginia Country Club, shooting 286-281 to end at 5-over in sixth place. Pacific and Houston shared the lead going into Friday, both at 1-under 559.
But Colorado State blasted by the rest of the competition Friday during the third round, shooting an impressive 11-under to finish first. The Rams finished 276-284-281, just one stroke against fellow Big West Conference member Pacific, which went 284-275-283.
UC Santa Barbara, the other Big West team in the event, placed tenth with scores of 292-282-287.
Individually, the 49ers had two players finish in the top 25. Aaron Slonim led the 49ers, going 72-71-71 to finish T20 with a one-over 214. JJ Katnik (74-71-70) followed Slonim, placing 25th with a 2-over 215, just one stroke behind Slonim.
JJ’s older brother Karl opened strong in the first round, shooting 68-72 to end the day tied for sixth, but failed to hold on as he shot a 76 in the second round. Karl finished behind his brother, tied for 26th.
Roberto Galetti, of golf powerhouse Arizona, won the event with a 9-under 204. Galetti shot 71-66-67 to tie the second-best score in tournament history. Dawie Van Der Walt of Lamar University set the record in 2005.
The Del Walker Classic wraps up the 2007 fall season for the 49ers. The team will have the next three months off and will be back in action in January, starting with the Arizona PING Intercollegiate, at Arizona National Golf Course in Tucson.
