A tale of two teams was the theme for the WSU Men’s Golf team as play concluded at the Mark Simpson CU Invitational today.

Washington State opened up to a sloppy start in the team’s third tournament of the year, partly due to gale-force winds and heavy rainfall on the course. An impressive team rebound led by WSU’s Michael Anderson and Blake Snyder saw the Cougs rocket into a tie for first place overall.

Following the opening round struggles, Washington State kicked it into gear, dominating the course en route to second and third round scores of 288 (E) and 286 (-2), respectively, strong improvements from the team’s first round score of 308 (+20). The Cougs final score of 882 (+18) earned a first-place team finish, tying tournament-host Colorado University.

“We started seven strokes behind and battled hard all day long,” WSU Head Coach Garrett Clegg said in a press release.

Individually, senior Blake Snyder notched his second top-three finish of the year, tying for second-place after carding a three-round 215 (-1). Junior Michael Anderson also dominated his way to a top-five finish, his second of the year, after carding an overall 217 (+1) through three rounds of play. Houston Baptist’s Preston Stanley took home the individual event title after finishing his three round score of 210 (-6).

 “Michael (Anderson), Blake (Snyder), and Sang (Lee) were rock solid today in the final round,” Clegg said. “I’m excited for the progress we are making as a team and look forward to continuing to work hard to get better.”

With the event co-title, Washington State seized victories over Pac-12 foes Oregon State (third-place finish overall) and Utah (T-10th), state-rival Gonzaga (T-14th).

Redshirt junior Sang Lee, junior Charlie Mroz, and sophomore Bhurinat Songpaiboon rounded out the five-man team lineup for WSU. Lee finished the event tied for 42nd overall with a three-round score of 228 (+12). Mroz, making his first appearance on the team lineup this year, impressed with a 226 (+10) after his three rounds, good enough for a tie for 30th overall. Songpaiboon finished his three rounds of play at a tie for 69th overall with a 235 (+19).

Tough playing conditions led to a muddy start for WSU, at one point falling to 12th place overall in the 15-team event. A strong rebound, however, saw WSU bounce back to fifth-place overall by the end of the first round, and second-place overall by the end of the second round Tuesday morning. Play was delayed due to darkness Monday night, leaving the Cougs to finish the second and third rounds of play Tuesday.

Colorado National Golf Course, the location of the event, received over 10 inches of rain in the week leading up to the tournament, according to WSUCougars.com. The course is located in Erie, Colorado, a region that typically receives just 30 inches of precipitation annually.

The Cougs will have an extra week off before returning to action Oct. 7-8. The team will compete in the Firestone Invitational, hosted by Akron University in Akron, Ohio.