COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Idaho Vandal men's golf dominated the field, breaking the school record with a 23-under team performance, beating second-place Gonzaga by 10 strokes.
Josh McCartain and
Sam Johnson who both finished in the top five to lead the way for Idaho. McCartain got better throughout the week, starting at one-under 71, then going three-under 69 before closing with a five-under 67 for a three-round score of 207 (nine-under) and all alone in third place.
Johnson started the tournament with a three-under 69 and followed that with back-to-back 70s to close seven-under 209 to tie for fifth place.
Joe Sykes tied for 14th with a three-round score of 213 at three-under after closing with three-under 69 in the final round.
Dalton Dean finished even par, highlighted by a one-under 71 in the first round.
Charley Simpson finished 42nd at two-over but closed the week with a three-under 69 in the final round to help the Vandals pull away.
The Vandals were near the top all weekend. Idaho was first after the first round going five under in round one but dropped to a tie for second place after round two at 10-under, one stroke behind Gonzaga. The best was yet to come for the Vandals.
McCartain's five-under led the way in round three, along with under-par rounds from Sykes, Simpson and Johnson led to a 13-under third round, tied with San Jose State for the best round of the weekend. The big score allowed the Vandals to pull away and put the tournament out of reach.
McCartain has now played six straight rounds under par and 10 of the last 12 going back to last spring.
"I could not be more proud of our guys this week," head coach
David Nuhn said. "They really did a great job of focusing on themselves. Not worrying about anyone else and simply the next shot they faced. We got another great performance from
Josh McCartain, and it was really nice to have Sam in the top five. It was a complete team effort, the rounds we counted from Joe, especially rounds one and two, when he wasn't his best, were incredibly important. The rounds we got from Dalton, and then today's awesome round from Charley, all played a big part in this win. We'll be excited for this one today and tomorrow look forward to the opportunity next week in St Louis at Gateway National."
The field included 23 teams from across the west, including Big Sky teams Northern Colorado and Weber State. Gonzaga, Boise State, San Jose State and other regional teams were among the field.
The Vandals are back in action next week at the SIUE Dolenc Invitational at Gateway National in Madison, Ill., on Monday and Tuesday Sept. 29-30.
