University of Washington
The Swoosh Invitational (Purple)
Washington Finishes 11th At Nike Golf Invite
October 06, 2015 | Men's Golf
Live Scoring
PORTLAND, Ore. – Washington finished up the Nike Collegiate Golf Invitational on Tuesday, rising one place on the leaderboard to 11th. The Huskies played the final round at 4-under 284 to finish the week at 4-under 856 at Pumpkin Ridge.
“Nike put on an amazing tournament,” said head coach Matt Thurmond. “It's probably the best field of any event we'll play all year. I wish we could have played better, but we just couldn't put four rounds together any day and had to keep some high scores.”
The Huskies faced a field of some of the top teams sponsored by Nike that included 11 squads ranked in the latest Golf Coaches Association of America poll. Wake Forest hung on for the overall victory, finishing at 37-under for the week. They were three shots better than USC and Duke who tied for second at 34-under.
“We're still finding ourselves as a team,” continued Thurmond. “There are some bright spots, but we have a long way to go to have the depth we need to truly contend. It will be nice to have a few weeks to get ready for another competition.”
The Dawgs were led by Matt Marrese on Tuesday as the freshman made six birdies to just two bogeys for a round of 4-under 68. Marrese had made his share of birdies all week, but avoided mistakes over the final round to climb to a tie for 50th overall.
The best overall finish for Washington came from Jonathan Sanders as the senior tied for 11th. Sanders also played well over the final round, firing a 2-under 70. After a double-bogey on his first hole, the 10th at Pumpkin Ridge's Witch Hollow, Sanders went on to make five birdies with just a single bogey.
Corey Pereira was also playing well and inside the top-10, but a triple-bogey eight on the seventh hole (his 16th) disrupted what had been another superb tournament for the junior. Pereira made four birdies on the day, but fell out of the top-10 down to a tie for 24th after a tough finish.
Freshman Carl Yuan also had a big bounce-back day, firing a closing round of 1-under 71. Yuan came into the tournament playing as the Dawgs No. 1, but struggled in the second round for the first time of his young collegiate career. He responded on Tuesday with a solid round that included an eagle and four birdies to finish in a tie for 61st overall.
Jordan Lu had the discarded round, shooting a 5-over 77. He finished the week tied for 73rd.
The Huskies will now have some time to practice, before returning to action on Nov. 2-4 at the Gifford Collegiate, hosted by UCLA. Before the top-five players head to Southern California for that tournament, six individuals will travel to Monterrey, Calif., for the Otter Invitational on Oct. 19-20.
