PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University men's golf won the team title and sophomore Derek Bayley took home the individual title at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Tuesday, at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.
As a team, the Cougars were 33-under par with a three-round score of 819, breaking their own tournament record set in 2010, at the tournament formerly known as the Palouse Cougar Collegiate. WSU finished 20 strokes ahead of second-place Seattle (-13, 839). CSU Fullerton rounded out the top three with a score of 843, four strokes behind Seattle in the nine-team field.
“They played so great yesterday that today they just had to play solid and consistent and they did that,” WSU Head Coach Garrett Clegg said.
Bayley not only won the first tournament of his career, but also tied the tournament record with a score of 201 (-12). The record was set by Damien Telles of Idaho in 2010. Bayley made one bogey through three rounds.
In his best performance of the season, freshman Aaron Whalen finished second with an 8-under 205, four strokes behind Bayley. Whalen carded four birdies on the day and finished three-under in the third round.
“Part of golf is that we have an individual sport, so Aaron wanted to chase down Derek and beat him. Derek was able to win, but at the end of the day, as soon as it's over, they're really close and a great group of guys,” Clegg said.
Junior Nick Mandell finished in a four-way tie for fourth with a score of 207 (-6), the best finish of his career. Mandell tied his career-best round with a 68 in the second round.
Freshman Grant Cole, competing as an individual in his second tournament of the season, tied for ninth with four other golfers at 4-under (209). Fellow freshman AJ Armstrong tied for 16th with sophomore Zach Anderson (-2, 211).
Senior Evan Omelia tied for 19th (-1, 212). Junior transfer Ryan Baumgart finished 29th (+2, 215). Seniors Bhurinat Songpaiboon and Seth Nickerson tied for 30th (+3, 216) and 48th (+9, 222), respectively. Freshman walk-on Austin Brown tied for 56th (+12, 225). All five competed as individuals.
Next up, the Cougars will compete at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational hosted by UCF and Texas Tech, Oct. 18-20, at the Isleworth Country Club.
