Jackets Golfers Climb to Fifteenth (Mar. 22, 2005)

SEASIDE, CA- Through a torrential rainstorm the Montana State University-Billings men’s golf team shot to fifteenth place after 54-holes of play at the seventh annual Otter Tournament hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay March 21-22.  The Jacket men shot a 304, 332 and 308 for a combined 944.

Lynn University followed suit from day one of play and cruised to a twelve stroke win over the host team Otters.  This is the fourth straight top six finish for Cal State Monterey Bay, finishing second with an 891.  Two strokes behind and securing third place in the team competition shooting a 299, 299 and 295 is Rollins College.

Tim Aquaviva of Rollins College shot a tournament low round of 68 to climb from a tie for fourteenth to claim the top spot in the individual competition shooting rounds of 74, 75 and 68 for a 217.  Four golfers share the second spot with rounds totaling 218.  Leading the Yellowjackets is freshman Nick Larson (Fr., Riverton, WY) who was able to shoot his way to a tie for thirty-second with rounds of 74, 83 and 73 for 944.  Chris McConnell (Jr., Lewistown, MT) moved up two spots to tie for thirty-fourth with a combined 231 over 54-holes.

The Yellowjacket men are back in action April 4-5 for the conclusion of the Billings Collegiate Cup where the Jackets will host cross-town rival Rocky Mountain College at the Jackets home course of Briarwood.

MSU Billings Individual Scores
T 32  Nick Larson - 74  83  73  230
T 34  Chris McConnell - 72  82  77  231
T 74  Zach Abels - 80  84  78  242
T 77  Bryan Barthelmesi - 78  85  80  243
T 83  Chris Haas - 82  83  81  246

Team Standings
Fin.    Top 20 Teams          Scores
1.  Lynn University - 292  294  293  879
2.  Cal State MB - 296  298  297  891
3.  Rollins College - 299  299  295  893
4.  W. Wash. Univ. - 292  310  296  898
5.  CSU-Chico - 296  298  308  902
6.  CSU-Bakersfield - 293  308  305  906
7.  St. Martin’s - 304  307  298  909
8.  Barry Univ. -  306  303  303  912
9.  Grand Canyon - 310 302  302  914
10.  W. New Mex. - 291  317  308  916
11.  St. Edward’s - 301  312  306  919
12.  CSU-MB - 302  321  307  930
13.  Sonoma State - 315  308  308  931
14.  Monterey Penn.- 307  314  3166  937
15.  MSU Billings - 304  332  308  944
16.  West Texas A&M - 307  322  321  950
17.  N.W. Nazarene - 336  333  321  990

Top 10 Individuals
Fin.    Player         School      Scores
1.  Tim Aquaviva  Rollins  - 74  75  68  217
2.  Josh Immordino  W. Wash.  - 69  78  71  218
     Shane Prante  St. Martin’s  - 73  73  72  218
     D.J. Fernando  CSU-Bakersfield  - 71  73  74  218
     Tim Feenstra  W. Wash.  - 73  75  70  218
6.  Gavin Dear  Lynn Univ.  - 73  74  73  220
     Brian Thompson  CSUMB - 73  73  74  220
8.  Hoyt McGarity  Lynn Univ.  - 71  76  74  221
     Grant Haney  CSUMB  - 76  73  72  221