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Related Material
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Weekly Golf Notes.pdf
2003 Leaderboard.pdf
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GOLFER OF THE WEEK Fresno State's Chad Spencer, a junior from Rocklin, Calif., tied for ninth at the U.S. Intercollegiate, hosted by Stanford University. Spencer posted rounds of 70-64-77 (211). The second round 64 was one stroke shy of the course record, 63. Spencer led the Bulldogs to a fourth place finish in their final tournament before the WAC Championship in Houston, Texas, April 28-30.
OTHERS NOMINATED Graham DeLaet, Bosie State and Issac Weintraub, San Jose State.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON The 2002 WAC Tournament will hosted by Rice in Houston, April 28-30. The championship will be held at the Houstonian Golf Club (www.houstonian.com). Tulsa won the 2002 crown by five strokes over UTEP. Tulsa sophomore David Inglis took home the individual crown by 10 strokes over SMUs Ryan Abbate.
Boise State - The Broncos have grabbed four top-10 finishes in the spring, taking second at the both the Diablo Grande Intercollegiate and George Von Elm Intercollegiate. WAC 2002 Freshman of the Year, Graham DaLaet had been the Broncos top finisher in each of their 2003 tournaments. DeLeat, who finished eighth at the 2002 championship, picked up a win at the Von Elm Intercollegiate.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs are led by Hogan Award semifinalist Nick Watney. Watney has been the top Fresno State finisher in seven events this spring, including a record setting, 17-under at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. As a team, the Bulldogs look to top their third-place finish from 2002. Ryan Carter, who tied Watney for fourth last season, has a 73.3 stroke average this season.
Hawaii - Mathew Kodama is the Warriors top returner from a year ago, as he tied for 26th. Hawaii finished eighth in 2002, but look to better that finish this season with all five golfers owning averages below 77. Kodama has led Hawaii twice this year, while James Beston had also grabbed team honors.
Louisiana Tech - Bulldog freshman Derek Busby has led the team in three of five events this season making a strong push for freshman of the year. Busbys 76.2 average is tops on the La. Tech squad just ahead of Halli Heimisson who has led the Bulldogs twice in 2003. Lousisiana Tech travels to Houston looking to better the seventh-place finish from a year ago.
Nevada - The Wolf Pack will compete in four tournaments before the WAC Championship, traveling to Houston with only two athletes who competed in last years championship; Ian Hagen tied for 12th in 2002, while fellow Pack member Sprague Kolp tied for 45th. The two are tops on the team in stroke average at 76.63 and 73.44, respectively. Casey Watabu has been the teams top finisher in two events this season.
Rice - Rice plays host to this years championship, their first since 1997 at Columbia Lakes. The Owls top finish this season came at the San Diego Invite, taking fourth. Three golfers have the topped the Rice leaderboard this season, Scott Philips, Matt Toohey and Parker LaBarge have all helped the Owls grab four top-10 finishes. Ryan Morgan was Rices top finisher in 2002, tying for 15th.
San Jose State - The duo of Bryant Reeves and Issac Weintraub look to help the Spartans top their 2002 sixth-place finish. Weintraub leads the team with a 72.21 average on the season. San Jose State picked up two top-10 finishes in six tournaments in 2003, owning a team-low round of 283.
SMU - The Mustangs travel to Houston finishing in the top-5, four times in 2003, taking home top honors twice. Last years individual runner-up, Ryan Abbate, is back to make a push for the medallist. SMU has had four different players lead the way in 2003, with Nicholas Loar, Brock Mulder, Will Dodson and Stephen Sparolini all taking top Mustang honors.
UTEP - With three top-5 finishes and a second-place finish in 2002, the Miners are geared up to take home the top spot in 2003. Chris Baryla, who has won two tournaments this year, and Nathan Fritz tied for sixth in 2002 and are back for UTEP. Dan Swanson has been atop the WAC leaderboard all season and has led the Miners in their last three outings.
Tulsa> - The 2002 Champion Golden Hurricane are looking to be the first back-to-back champions since TCU in 1997-98. Tulsa is led by 2002 individual winner, David Inglis, who has been the top finisher for the Hurricane in five stops this year. Chris Noel is the lone Tulsa champion on the season, winning The Intercollegiate. Finishing outside the top-5 only twice in seven tries, Tulsa heads into the championship as one of the favorites.
RECORDS TO LOOK FOR - Two players to keep an eye on will be two-time defending champion, David Inglis of Tulsa and Hogan Award Semifinalist, Fresno States Nick Watney. Inglis set the single round, 36 hole and 54 hole WAC records at last season championship. He is also looking to become the first, three-time WAC champion. Watney posted a course record low, 199 (-17) at the Bite/Pacific Intercollegiate and leads the WAC with a 69.58 average.
WATNEY NAMED GOLFWORLDS GOLFER OF THE WEEK Fresno State senior, Nick Watney, was named National Golfer of the Week in the latest edition of GolfWorld magazine. The Dixon, Calif., native broke the tournament record by 10 shots at the Bite/Pacifc Coast Intercollegiate, shooting a 17-under 199 to earn his 10th career victory. Watneys first career- sub-200 tournament also helped the Bulldogs claim the crown.
HOGAN SEMIFINALISTS ANNCOUNCED - Bank of America in cooperation with The Friends of Golf (FOG), Colonial Country Club and the Golf Coaches Association of America announced the 11 semifinalists for the 2003 Ben Hogan Award. The Hogan is presented annually to the top mens NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA golfer, taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months.
Fresno States Nick Watney is among the 11 semifinalists. Watney, who leads the WAC with a 69.45 stroke average, is also ranked second in the nation by GolfStat and fifth by GolfWeek. The senior from Dixon, Calif., has four tournament wins this year, including a tournament record, 17-under at the Bite Intercollegiate.
2003 Ben Hogan Semifinalists:Ricky Barnes, Arizona
Dustin Bray, North Carolina
Bill Haas, Wake Forest
Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State
Ryan Moore, UNLV
Chris Nallen, Arizona
Adam Rubinson, TCU
D.J. Trahan, Clemson
Justin Walters, North Carolina State
Nick Watney, Fresno StateOliver Wilson, Augusta State