From a player exceeding expectations in his debut match to others breaking records, Fresno State made several achievements at the Nick Watney Invitational at the Fort Washington Country Club, from Sept. 25-26.
After a second-place finish and record-breaking score of 45-under-par at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, the ‘Dogs gained the momentum they needed to achieve great things back in Fresno.
In round one of the tournament, the ‘Dogs had a rough start with the lowest score being 1-under-par from Joseph Lloyd, and sat at eighth place out of 14 teams. Fresno State would go on to play much better throughout the tournament, which Head Coach Chad Spencer recognized in the post-game interview.
“We got off to a slow start,” said Spencer. “We kind of knew we had these type of scores in us, and we played the last 30 holes really well. So I’m proud of them for that. We just got to get out of the gate a little better, so to speak.”
The ‘Dogs improved tremendously in round two as four of their players carded a score of 3-under-par, ending the day with a total score of 272 and putting them up three spots on the leaderboard.
Freshman Ryan Firpo was among those players, who made his debut in the Bulldogs’ lineup. Firpo expressed how he felt going into this tournament.
“I was really excited for it,” said Firpo. “It’s been so long since I committed to play here and for me to finally make my debut in the lineup was so exciting. I was super nervous in the beginning but ended up having a good week and it was just so much fun.”
The ‘Dogs continued to climb the leaderboard in the final round as senior Matthew Manganello helped them do so with an incredible score of 9-under-par, tying the program’s lowest score. He also carded the lowest score he ever had in nine holes, scoring a 29 on the back nine.
“Yeah, that’s the lowest I’ve ever had on any nine,” said Manganello. “At the end of the day it was just golf, but it was pretty cool to do it here for the home event.”
Fresno State finished third overall in the tournament with a final score of 825, 27-under-par. They also carded a 15-under-par 269 in the final round which was the lowest score out of all the teams that day.
The Alister MacKenzie Invite is next up for the ‘Dogs are they head upstate to the Meadow Club in Fairfax.
