Chico State men’s golf got a good look at their Western Region opponents on Monday and Tuesday. The Wildcats left with a victory while shooting 25 under par, 11 less than the next closest team.
Chico had a strong performance, with three of its players finishing within the top ten. They started strong with the lead after day one, and didn’t give it up for the rest of the tournament.
“After the first day we had quite a big lead,” Second place finisher Kelley Sullivan said. “We feel like we’re notorious for giving up big leads, so we made it our goal to reach our goal as a team instead of comparing ourselves to the rest of the field.”
This performance also earned Sullivan his second straight California Collegiate Athletic Association men’s golfer of the week award. Behind a -8 finish, consisting of 14 birdies and a CSU Chico victory, it was well earned. This is the third straight time that Chico State has had a golfer of the week, as Josh McCollum has received this honor two times.
All five of the Chico State competitors placed within the top 15 of the 135 players in the tournament, which just goes to show how well the team works together, and is able to win together.
Sullivan alone hit 14 birdies and finished runner up individually. This is also coming after a third place individual finish in the National Championship Preview.
“I just putted really well,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been working on my putting and it’s been nice to see them go in. I stayed really aggressive and had a lot of puts drop.”
Among Chico’s conference competitors, Sonoma state was the next team on the list, breaking even, and losing to Chico by 25 strokes. This goes to show how dominant Chico men’s golf can be as soon as conference competition begins.
Looking ahead to their next competition, Chico State will head to CSU Monterey Bay to compete in the Otter Invitational next Monday and Tuesday, where they will get a look at their future CCAA opponents. This is a good chance for Chico to see who they’ll likely be facing throughout a bulk of the season, so a win here would be a good way to start things off.
Connor McPherson can be reached at [email protected] or @theGOATMcphers1 on Twitter.
