Under sunny Calif. skies and warm air this week, the Washington State men’s golf team opened their season strong, with a third place finish at the Southwestern Intercollegiate presented by James Kim.

As a team, the Cougars finished 11-over-par, 10 strokes back from No. 25 USC. It was No. 3 Stanford who took home the gold, coming in at 4-under-par.

The Cougars were led by senior Charlie Mroz, whose 3-over-par score for the tournament put him in a tie for ninth in the 12-team field — marking his first top-10 finish in his collegiate career.

Redshirt senior Sang Lee also turned in an impressive performance, tallying six birdies during his final 18 to finish tied for 14th. For Lee, it is his 10th top-25 finish in his career.

“Charlie did a great job and Sang finished high as well,” Head Coach Garrett Clegg said. “Now we have to get ready for the Husky Invitational.”

It was a strong second round that propelled the Cougs through the match. They carded the lowest second-round score of the day, shooting just 2-over-par. However, a score of 295 (11-over-par) during the third round dropped the Cougars from second to third.

“Our guys battled and did a great job,” Clegg said. “Unfortunately we didn’t finish strong.”

Clegg said the difference in the match was USC’s ability to hold steady while the Cougs made a few mistakes.

“We have to get better at finishing those rounds,” Clegg said. “But overall it’s a great start to the season.”

The Cougars will get some time off before heading over to Bremerton on September 22nd for their next match, the Husky Invitational.

 Reporting by Beau Baily