Matt Weir/Collegian File Photo
Fresno State golf coach Mike Watney and his team have a stiff challenge ahead of them starting today at the USC Invitational, but the 30-year Bulldog leader insists his team can outlast the strong field.
The two-day, three-round event at Westlake Village, Calif.’s North Ranch Country Club has 15-school field, seven of which are currently ranked top-25 in the nation, including No. 1 UCLA.
But Watney believes the five players making the trip to Southern California are in it to win in what he says is one of the very best fields in the country.
“We think we can win,” Watney said. “This is a very, very good field and based on our ranking we shouldn’t. However, Bhavik Patel is a fantastic player who can win anytime he tees it up. I have other very good players. The main thing is us putting it together.”
Watney said the team has struggled in the spring session of getting all competing players to perform at a high level in the same matches. The Bulldogs placed 10th in the Arizona Intercollegiate’s 16-team field and seventh at the John Burns Invitational at Hawaii.
One area of mild concern for Fresno State has been the play of the Bulldogs’ premier player Patel. The junior has labored down the stretch after a terrific fall campaign. Patel’s average of 75 per round in Fresno State’s two spring tournaments is well under his fall average of 69.71.
But if Patel can return to his fall form at the USC Invitational, and his four teammates can prove to be an ample supporting cast, Watney believes his team is nationally-ranked caliber.
“If you have an All-American, and solid support, you should be a top-20 team,” Watney said. “In Bhavik we have a guy that, until the last two tournaments, is definitely playing All-American level. But we’ve been inconsistent behind them.”
Watney held a competition during Wednesday’s practice to determine which five members on his roster he would take to the invitational. Patel, Brian Sunker, Brad Wyatt, as well as surging Bulldogs Nate Jessup and Bryan Hogan made the cut. Hogan shot one-under at the John Burns Invitational in Hawaii while Jessup, just a freshman, shot a third-round 65.
“I had a freshman last week shoot 65 in Hawaii,” Watney said of Jessup. “That’s a fabulous score. I mean that’s beyond good ”” that’s fabulous seven under par.”
Although Watney has plenty of confidence in his five-man group, North Ranch Country Club’s layout presents plenty of unfavorable circumstances itself. The course is relatively short at 6,869 yards, but keeps the driver out of players’ hands and warrants caution on out-of-bounds areas.
“For the free-swinging type of player, that can be very difficult, very scary, because you can’t just give it a rip because, I mean, most golf courses you hit it left you might hit trees or be in another fairway,” Watney said. “Here you’re out of bounds and reloading.”
Watney said even for the teams of NCAA elite status, the course’s dynamics level the playing field.
“At the NCAA, Arizona came into it prohibitive favorites,” he said. “They’d won like seven tournaments during the year. They had several future [PGA] Tour players, and these guys were bombers. Well they go to this golf course, take the driver out of their hands, now they’re hitting three irons and some short, straight hitter who normally can’t compete against the bomber, but he can hit his driver against the other guy’s three iron.”
This year marks the fourth straight season the Bulldogs have competed in the USC Invitational. The best a Fresno State player has finished in the last three invitationals is last year when Hogan shot a 69-69-71””209, good enough for fifth place.
But Watney reiterated that his team’s struggles of late are simply a product of his players putting it all together at the right time.
“Every sport it’s hard,” Watney said. “It’s like the quarterback is right on and his receivers keep dropping passes. One guy’s on and the other guy’s not on, and you don’t have success.”