SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Sophomores Derek Bayley and Zach Anderson recorded top-25 finishes as the Washington State men's golf team finished ninth after the fourth and final round of the Pac-12 Championships, Sunday, at The Country Club.
“We had a rough first day and for the final 36 holes, there were only two other teams which had better performances,” said WSU Head Coach Garrett Clegg. “The guys learned a lot about themselves this week and I'm proud of their resiliency.”
In its highest conference-championship finish since 2012, WSU (+56, 1476) finished six strokes ahead of Arizona, nine strokes ahead of Oregon State, and 20 strokes ahead of Utah. No. 4 Stanford won the tournament, shooting 18-under par (1402) through four rounds, 29 strokes in front of second-place finisher, No. 13 California (+11, 1431). No. 10 Arizona State rounded out the top three at 1439 (+19).
In-state rival, No. 24 Washington, finished fourth (+23, 1443), as No. 2 USC finished fifth (+28, 1448). No. 23 Oregon and Colorado tied for sixth at 39-over par (1459). UCLA finished eighth (+45, 1465).
Derek Bayley moved six spots up the leaderboard to tie for 19th (+4, 288) with four other golfers, including the No. 50 and No. 38 golfers in the nation, Arizona State's Max Rottluff and Jared duToit, respectively. Zach Anderson finished 24th, shooting 5-over par (289) through four rounds.
“Zach's past two tournaments have been incredible,” Clegg said. “This performance was better than his 11th-place finish at the PING Cougar Classic.”
Freshmen Aaron Whalen and AJ Armstrong tied for 45th at 15-over par (299). Junior Nick Mandell finished 66th (+24, 308), while senior Evan Omelia finished 70th (+28, 312).
“It was four of six guys' first time competing at the Pac-12 Championships,” Clegg said. “Next season the players will be one year older, more mature, and a lot more stable and solid.”
Washington State Results
T19. Derek Bayley 77 (+6)-66 (-5)-72 (+1)-73 (+2)=288 (+4)
24. Zach Anderson 77 (+6)-72 (+1)-64 (-7)-76 (+5)=289 (+5)
T45. Aaron Whalen 75 (+4)-76 (+5)-75 (+4)-73 (+2)=299 (+15)
T45. AJ Armstrong 78 (+7)-72 (+1)-74 (+3)-75 (+4)=299 (+15)
66. Nick Mandell 73 (+2)-82 (+11)-75 (+4)-78 (+7)=308 (+24)
70. Evan Omelia 84 (+13)-79 (+8)-72 (+1)-77 (+6)=312 (+28)