A strong first-day showing and an successful individual performance kept Washington State afloat this week during the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational, hosted by rival and nationally-ranked University of Washington.

As a team, WSU shot a 296 (+8) and 290 (+2) in the first two rounds of play on Monday, slotting them in 8th place overall for the tournament. The Cougs finished play with a round of 294 (+6) on Tuesday, dropping them to 11th place overall.

WSU junior Michael Anderson led the team in individual performance, carding a beautiful 211 (-5) through three rounds of golf. Anderson, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., shot 70 (-2), 71 (-1), and 70 (-2) respectively in his three rounds of play for the tournament, good enough for an impressive second place overall in the 15-team, 75-player event.

Anderson was one of only two non-Huskies to finish in the top five of the individual leaderboard.

The Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational is hosted at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., a challenging par-72 course. Tournament host, UW took home this year’s title with an overall two-day team score of 847 (-17). Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan took home the individual title over WSU’s Anderson with a final score of 205 (-11) after three rounds.

Arizona State placed second in the event, a cool 18-strokes behind the sixth-ranked (via NCAA) Washington Huskies.

WSU senior Blake Snyder finished with a score of 221 (+5) at the conclusion of the tournament, good for a third place finish on the team and tied for 32nd overall. Redshirt junior Sang Lee carded a 220 (+4) after his three rounds, strong enough for a second place finish for the Cougs and tied for 28th overall.

Sophomore Ryan Books and freshman Nick Mandell shot rounds of 234 (+18) and 235 (+19), respectively, to round out the five-man team lineup for WSU.  

The Cougs tied for sixth as a team in last year’s Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational; however, the team shot a combined 880 (+16) in this year’s event, a steady improvement from their 899 (+35) in 2012.

Oregon State took home third place in the two-day featured event, following Washington and Arizona State. San Diego and Brigham Young tied for fifth, followed by a tie for seventh between San Diego State, Oregon, and Southern California, and a tenth-place finish for UC-Davis. Behind the Cougs’ in 11th place were Gonzaga, Pepperdine, Pacific, and Utah.   

“Michael Anderson played outstanding,” Cougar Head Coach Garrett Clegg said in a press release. “This was probably the best tournament he’s played at Washington State, especially in such a strong field. Sang Lee played well, and Blake Snyder had a rough start, but came back strong.”

The Cougs will be in action again next week in Erie, Colo., as part of the Mark Simpson CU Invitational, hosted by Pac-12 foe Colorado University. The tournament will take place Sept. 23-24.