BOISE, Idaho – Sam Johnson finished two-under, and
Josh McCartain was one-under for the dual, but the Idaho Vandal men's golf team fell in the Battle for Idaho 844-851 to Boise State this week at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise.
"I'm proud of the fight displayed by our Vandals in Boise this week," head coach
David Nuhn said. "I felt like every Vandal showed up to compete and defend our Battle for Idaho win from a year ago. Ultimately the putts fell in for the other team this time. That's golf."
Johnson had a team-best two-under 69 in round one, before going one-over in round two. He was one-under in the final round to finish two-under for the dual, good enough for second place.
McCartain was one-under 70 in each of his first two rounds before finishing one-over in his final round to close out the tournament one-under to tie for third place on the week.
Joe Sykes and Matthew McGann both finished one-over 214 to tie for seventh place in the field. Both finish with one-under 70s in the final round.
Charley Simpson was eight-over 221 to finish 14th and
Tommy Kimmel was 13-over 226 to finish 15th.
"
Sam Johnson continues to play really strong and steady golf, finishing runner up," Nuhn said. "
Joe Sykes has been improving rapidly over the past couple of events. We have come to rely on
Josh McCartain and
Matt McGann to count team scores, and it was great to see
Tommy Kimmel and freshman
Charley Simpson improve their scores in each round of the event."
Despite falling to the Broncos, the final score was 34 strokes better than last season's team score of 885 in the same event and the best three-round team score of the spring so far.
"Our team's commitment to our shot process and staying present has helped to grow confidence through our spring slate of events," Nuhn said. "We have now have ten days to prepare to battle for the Big West Championship in Palm Springs."
The dual was the last event of the regular season. The Vandals now prepare for the Big West Championship, April 27-29 at La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, California.
