SANTA ROSA – The Chico State men’s golf team should start collecting checks from the members of the Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club any day now. After all, the Wildcats seem to own the course. A 2-under par 286 propelled the Wildcats to their third consecutive Sonoma State Invitational title Tuesday.
The Wildcats, who began Tuesday’s final round tied for second place, pulled away from the field behind Kyle Souza’s 3-under par 69 – which proved to be the day’s low round – and Eric Frazzetta’s 2-under par 70. The Wildcats also got a lift when Bobby Bucey aced the par-3, 146-yard sixth hole. Souza (70-69–139) finished the tournament in second place at 5-under par, just one stroke behind medalist Matthew Garcia of Academy of the Art. Frazzetta (71-70–141) finished in third place at 3-under par.
Eric Frazzetta finished in third place at 3-under par.
Chico State and Dixie State recorded the best two rounds of the tournament Tuesday – twin 286s – but Chico State’s 292 in rough conditions Monday left the Wildcats five shots clear of the second-place finishers at 2-over par. Saint Martin’s and opening-round leader Western Washington tied for third eight strokes behind the Wildcats.
Bucey (75-74–149) rode his hole-in-one to a 2-over par 74 Tuesday and joined teammate Sylvester Gama (76-73–149) in a five-way tie for 28th place at 5-over par. Brandon Harkins (79-74–153) moved up 10 slots into a tie for 49th place in the 73-player field.
The Wildcats, currently ranked No. 7 in the nation in the Golf World/Nike Coaches’ Poll and No. 6 by GolfStat, wrapped up quite a fall with their victory Tuesday. They also won last week’s InterWest Wildcat Classic, and prior to that, brought home consecutive third-place finishes in the first two
Bobby Bucey left his putter in the bag after a hole-in-one on the sixth hole.
tournaments of the season. They finished the fall campaign with a 207-8 mark against Division II competition, including 7-0 against the top-25.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS