CHICO – It didn’t take Chico State men’s golf Head Coach T.L. Brown long to start fortifying the team’s fall player roster. Less than a week after the Wildcats finished third in the NCAA Championships, Brown has secured the services of local product Cody Thompson and high school star Chris Doyle, who have each signed their National Letter of Intent and will be part of the 2010-11 edition of the ’Cats.
Thompson comes to Chico State after one season at Butte College. He finished the year sixth overall while earning All-Big 8 Conference honors as a Roadrunner. Thompson was a medalist twice and placed second in the Nor Cal Championships, shooting a 68-73 at Mira Vista Country Club. He also logged a top 20 finish in the 2009 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championship. Thompson has performed well at several amateur events, with high finishes in three straight Chico City Championships and a top 30 showing at last year’s California State Fair Men’s Amateur Championship. Thompson was a prep star at Chico High School – the three-time All-Eastern Athletic League selection helped the Panthers capture four EAL championships and three section titles.
Doyle, who hails from Thousand Oaks, is wrapping up a four-year career at Westlake High School, which features one of the premier golf programs in southern California. Averaging in the low- to mid-70’s since his freshman year, Doyle has been part of three straight Miramonte League champions and two CIF Southern Section title teams, while helping the Warriors finish third in the state in 2009. Last summer, Doyle posted top 20 finishes in two American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournaments, and this season, placed high in a pair of Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT) events, including a sixth place finish in early March at the Hunter Ranch Open. His 9-under par 63 is course record at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley. Doyle will be competing next week in the CIF/SGCA Championship Tournament in Murrieta.
Thompson and Doyle will join a Chico State men’s golf program that finished first in the West Region in 2009-10 and has been among the nation’s top 10 teams four times in the past 11 years.
