Men’s Golf
The Chico State men’s golf team is on a tear, and it is being led by senior All-American Lee Gearhart. Winning for the third time in four tournaments, Gearhart made sure his team came away with a victory at the UCSD Triton Invitational in Turlock, California, March 21-22.
Gearhart and the team as a whole are peaking at the right time. They have finished in the top two of every tournament they have been in this season with four first places finishes.
The All-American is now tied for second in Chico State history for most tournament wins, and is one shy of catching the school’s all-time wins leader Kyle Souza who has been the leader since 2011.
Gearhart was at one point in fifth place but made up for it in the final round Tuesday, shooting a 2-over par and scoring a 218. He tied for medalist honors with Christopher Pham from Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Chico State started the final day of the tournament two shots behind the leader, Cal State Monterey Bay, and used a very strong team effort to come away with a six-stroke victory.
All-American senior Alistair Doherty shot two straight rounds of par to take fourth place shooting 4-over par and scoring a 220. It was his fourth straight top five finish.
Top Performers
Senior Lee Gearhart: finished in first place, shot a 2-over par, scored a 218.
Senior Alistair Docherty: finished in fourth place, shot a 4-over par, scored a 220.
Senior Justin Wiles: finished in fifth place, shot a 5-over par, scored a 221.
The men’s team will be back on the green Monday, April 11, playing in its final tournament before the NCAA Championships.
Women’s Golf
After chipping two points off its team total, it still wasn’t enough to keep from falling to ninth place at the Otter Invitational in Seaside, California, March 21-22.
Shooting an opening day round of 321 as a team, the women’s golf team found itself just eight strokes out of the lead and needed a strong second day performance to help close the gap.
An improvement on day one, they scored a 319 to finish out the tournament in ninth place, shooting a 64-over par and scoring a 640.
Senior Dani O’Keefe finished in a tie for 15th place shooting a 12-over par and scoring a 136. It marked the fourth time this season that O’Keefe has had a top 15 finish for the Wildcats.
Starting day two in 10th place overall, senior Bianca Armanini struggled in the final day of the tournament, shooting an 86 in the final round dropping her into 49th place with a 20-over par and a score of 164.
Top Performers
Senior Dani O’Keefe: finished in 15th place, shot a 12-over par, scored a 136.
Junior Abbey McGrew: finished in 42nd place, shot a 19-over par, scored a 163.
First-year Emily Rotter: finished in 42nd place, shot a 19-over par, scored a 163.
The women’s team will be playing in the Sonoma State Spring Invitational Monday, April 4.
Jason Spies can be reached at [email protected] or @Jason_Spies on Twitter.
