After the long winter in Pullman, the men’s golf traveled to Arizona for some much-needed sunshine. The Grand Canyon University Invitational brought sixteen schools from around the US to compete on the GCU golf course. Coming off a ninth-place finish at the Prestige Open a few weeks prior, WSU started very strong in Phoenix.
On Day One, the Cougs shot ten-under par and were in third place overall at the end of the day. Sophomore Sam Renner was particularly brilliant, as he found himself tied for the overall lead after round one, in which he shot a score of 6-under. Seniors Preston Bebich and Drayton Joseph also each shot below par on day one, while Pono Yanagi and Nate Plaster finished even.
On Day Two, the Cougars failed to improve, but they did enough to hold on to third place overall. Renner finished even and fell to 8th place overall. His final score for the tournament was six-under par. Bebich joined Renner in the top ten. He shot three-under, giving him a total score of five-under-par, and was tied for tenth overall after the tournament.
Yanagi had an up-and-down final round. He secured five birdies, but also six bogies, and ended up finishing two over on the round. Plaster also finished two-over, while Joseph shot one-under on day three. He overcame a difficult front nine holes, securing a pair of birdies towards the end of the back nine. Overall, the Cougars finished with a combined score of even on day two and a combined tournament score of ten-under.
California State University Fullerton wound up winning the tournament with a score of 24-under par. GCU, which had home-field advantage, took second place, and WSU finished third. It’s another strong finish for the men, who have a strong resume this year. In eight tournaments so far this school year, the Cougars have four podium finishes, although this is their first top-three finish since the Stockton Pacific Invitational in October of 2023.
They have finished fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth place in the other four tournaments, never failing to be among the top ten. That should help them when being considered for the NCAA Tournament in May. The Cougars will next travel to the Goodwin, hosted by Stanford, on Mar. 28-30.
