Over two days in Tucson, Arizona, the Cougars marked their progress and made the chips and puts necessary to finish fifth in the Arizona Intercollegiate this past weekend.

Freshman Aaron Whalen led Washington State men’s golf, finishing 11th overall at three-over-par for the weekend. After shooting a 74 in round one, Whalen finished at even par in the second and third rounds including eight third-round birdies.

After a strong opening the Cougars struggled in the second round with a score of 301, good enough for 12th out of 17. But Head Coach Garrett Clegg saw his players make the necessary adjustments in the third and final round to clinch their fifth place finish.

“The guys did a really good job competing and moving up the leaderboard,” Clegg said via WSUCougars.com. “We did a better job today making birdies and saving par from tough spots.”

Junior Nick Mandell and freshman AJ Armstrong finished T-28th at +9 with UTEP freshman Ben Getman and Southern Illinois junior Matt Greenfield. Mandell and Armstrong’s scores aligned with how the Cougars faired as a team in Tucson.

Mandell shot a 73, 77 and 72 for the weekend while Armstrong recorded a 73, 78 and 71. Sophomore Bayley finished T-38th at 11-over-par with sophomore Zach Anderson finished 76th at 26-over-par.

The par 71-course proved to be a good beginning for the Cougars this season with Clegg highlighting Whalen’s top performance.

“I’m thrilled Aaron finished 11th. That is a great way to get his spring season started,” Clegg said.

Next up for WSU is the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Hawaii, on Feb. 17.

Reporting by Lars Hanson