Men's golf wins again
By Brian Witter
Men's golf has done it yet again. Behind solid play from seniors Michael Nicoletti and John Colyar, the Broncos, currently ranked No. 53 in the country, won the Rice Intercollegiate at the Willowisp Country Club in Missouri City, Texas for their third tournament title of the season.
The golf team shot a 49-over-par 889 to win by five strokes over their next closest opponent. Under first-year head coach Rob Miller, Santa Clara shot a 304 first round to finish in a tie for eighth. The Broncos turned up the intensity and excelled on Monday afternoon despite difficult weather conditions to shoot a 289, the tournament's lowest score, finding themselves in first place in the standings.
Santa Clara started Tuesday morning one stroke ahead of Colorado State and never looked back. The five Bronco golfers playing that day tallied a final-round score of 296 to remain in first place ahead of the Rams and the host school, Rice, who finished in third place.
Overall, four golfers finished the tournament nine over par and a playoff was held to determine the individual winner.
Derrick Whiting of Colorado State was the eventual winner, while Nicoletti finished in second place. Nicoletti shot an impressive one-over-par 71 in the second round, which tied him for first place heading into Tuesday's third round.
Overall, Colyar shot a tournament 14-over-par 224 to finish tied for No. 12, and senior Eric Lillibridge finished at 15 over par, No. 16. Freshman Garrett Logan also played well for the Broncos, finishing at No. 21 with a 16 over par. Jong Yoon rounded out the group finishing tied for No. 35.
This year also marked the first time men's golf has won a tournament outside the South Bay since 1999. Santa Clara also won tournaments this year at the Salt Lake City Purple and Red Invitational and the Bronco Fall Invitational, hosted by Boise State last October. Men's golf will return to action on Feb. 27 at the Anteater Invitational in Laguna Nigel.
Contact Brian Witter at (408) 551-1918 or bwitter@scu.edu.