LA QUINTA, Calif. (February 22, 2023) – On a day when windy conditions saw no team break par and scores rise throughout the field, Washington State Men's Golf battled its way to a final round total of 305 at The Prestige Wednesday on the par 71, 7,100-yard Greg Norman Course at PGA West. The Cougars three-day total of +33, 885, tied for 12th overall in the strong early-season field.
 
Sixteenth-ranked Pepperdine withstood challenges from both No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 6 Stanford to hold on and take team honors with a three-round score of 8-under, 844, six strokes ahead of Texas Tech and 13 over third-place Stanford. WSU finished ahead or tied with three nationally-ranked teams, tying No. 33 Liberty (+33) and defeating No. 28 LSU (+43) and No. 47 Kansas (+46).
 
"I'm hopeful we learned a lot these last few weeks," said WSU Head Coach Dustin White. "Not only about our golf, but ourselves. We've got to turn stretches of good golf into full rounds. Letting go of things we can't control, managing our emotions and finding ways to execute will be areas we spend time on before our next tournament. When we do a good job with those things and are intentional with the shot in front of us, we know good things can happen. Some good things came out of these last couple weeks, but we're still learning and need to apply those lessons in practice so we're better in March than we are now."
 
Junior Jaden Cantafio led the Cougars for the three-round event, finishing Wednesday's final round with a three-over 74. Cantafio's round included three birdies on his first eight holes, giving him eight total for the 54 holes as he came in at 5-over 218, tied for 23rd for the tournament.
 
Sophomore Peter Jung posted 10-straight pars a one point on his round Wednesday before finishing with a 7-over, 78. Jung's three-round total of +8, 221, was tied for 42nd. Senior Pono Yanagi managed three birdies in the middle of his round, giving him a team-best 11 for the event, en route to a 4-over 75 on the afternoon. Yanagi finished his Prestige week at 8-over, 221, tied for 42nd.
 
Junior Preston Bebich shot an 81 on Wednesday to finish his tournament at 15-over par, 228, tied for 78th overall. Freshman Sam Renner concluded his final round with a 7-over, 78, giving him a three-day score of +18, 231, tied for 90th overall.
 
Sophomore Franklin Lydra, playing as an individual, shot a 5-over, 77, Wednesday, matching his score from each of the first two rounds.
 
The Cougars are next in action March 12 when they compete in the Bandon Dunes Championship in Bandon, Ore.
 
Fans can follow all of the action at GolfStat.com. For more information on the Washington State men's golf team, follow @WSUCougarMGolf on Instagram and Twitter.