April 28, 2010

TEMPE, Ariz. - Despite posting the best four-round team score at a conference tournament in school history (1,438), the Washington State men's golf team placed 10th at the 2010 Pacific-10 Conference Championship, Wednesday. The Cougars finished behind seven teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

Senior Kevin Tucker moved up 11 spots during the final day after carding a fourth-round 69 (-2). The mark ties Hank Frame's third-round score for the lowest Cougar round of the tournament, and is tied for the sixth-best round at a conference championship in WSU history. Tucker finished in a tie for 31st with a tournament-total 285 (+1).

Sophomore Trent Sanders was close behind at 286 (+2), good enough for a share of 38th place. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native fired a round of even-par 71, Wednesday.

Nick Ellis and Nick Grigsby both finished with three-round totals of 292 (+8). Ellis carded a 71 during the final round while Grigsby finished out with a score of 73 (+2).

Frame and senior Austin Hurt made up the final two spots for the Cougars, finishing with four-round scores of 294 and 296, respectively.

Washington edged out Stanford by three strokes to take home the team title with a composite score of 37-under (1,383). Eric Mina of California finished atop the individual leaderboard at 16-under.

The WSU team is currently ranked 68th in the nation and will now wait to see if it can qualify for the NCAA Regional tournament May 20-22, for only the second time in school history.

Pacific-10 Conference Championship; Tempe, Ariz.

Karsten Golf Course

Par-71; 7,057 Yards

Final Results

WSU Results: T31. Kevin Tucker (72-73-71-69--285, +1); T36. Trent Sanders (71-73-71-71--286, +2); T46. Nick Ellis (75-71-75-71--292, +8); T46. Nick Grigsby (72-70-77-73--292, +8); T51. Hank Frame (78-74-69-73--294, +10); T54. Austin Hurt (71-76-73-76--296, +12).

Team Results: 1. Washington (1383, -35); 2. Stanford (1386, -37); 3. USC (1396, -24); 4. Arizona State (1401, -19); 5. Oregon State (1407, -13); T6. Oregon (1409, -11); T6. California (1409, -11); 8. UCLA (1414, -6); 9. Arizona (1421, +1); 10. Washington State (1438, +18).

Top Five Individuals: 1. Eric Mina, California (65-68-67-68--268, -16); 2. Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State (63-66-67-73--269, -15); 3. Richard Lee, Washington (64-70-68-68--270, -14); T4. Joseph Bramlett, Stanford (66-66-66-75--273, -11); T4. Gregor Main, UCLA (68-69-64-72--273, -11).