Idaho Breaks Record En Route to First Men's Golf Championship
Results
ANGELS CAMP, Calif. - The first Big Sky Conference Men's Golf Championship since 2002 ended in historic fashion.
The Idaho Vandals dominated the Greenhorn Creek Resort Wednesday firing a 10-under-par 276 team score to cruise to a 21-shot win. Idaho finished with a 54-hole total of 856, breaking the previous tournament record of 860.
Idaho sophomore Jared du Toit closed with 6-under-par 66 to claim the individual title. Du Toit, from Kimberley, B.C., finished with an 8-under-par 208 to win by five shots over teammate Aaron Cockerill.
Du Toit's 66 tied the course record from the championship tees. Du Toit played the front nine in 4-under-par. He carded an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. Du Toit made birdie on the first three holes on the back-nine to move to 7-under. The only blemish was a double bogey on the 14th hole. Du Toit put the finishing touches on the Vandals' first Big Sky Championship with a birdie on the 18th.
"I hit a lot of quality shots and my bad shots weren't necessarily bad,'' du Toit said. "I did a good job of converting the chances that I did have. It was awesome today."
The Vandals entered the day with a 12-shot lead over Sacramento State. The Hornets shot a 3-under-par 285, but could not gain ground on Idaho.
Idaho counted a 66 from du Toit, a 69 from Cockerill, a 70 from Rylee Iacolucci and a 71 from freshman Daniel Sutton en route to the 276. Sutton tied for third overall with an even-par 216. Iacolucci tied for ninth at 221. Du Toit and Cockerill (-3) were the only two players in the field to finish under par.
"We've had a good season,'' said Idaho coach John Means. "We played very well coming into the event. Our goal is to be able to play for the national championship. This is one of he steps we need to accomplish to get there and do that. I think we were a little nervous the first day, but then the guys played the kind of golf they've been playing all year in the final two rounds to convincingly put a stamp on the Big Sky championship.''
Du Toit, Cockerill and Daniel Sutton earned All-Tournament honors, along with Sacramento State's Luke Kristo and Aaron Beverly, and Weber State's Lee Shepherd. Kristo and Sutton shot even-par 216. Shepherd and Beverly were 1-over-par.
Hartford's Will Betts and Southern Utah's Fiedel Concepcion both broke 70 in the final round. Both golfers finished with 69. Concepcion was seventh overall with a 218. Teammate Nic Booth was eighth at 220. Southern Utah finished third overall with an 885.
Weber State was fourth with an 890. Weber State's Devon Purser tied for ninth at 221.
Idaho will represent the Big Sky in the NCAA Regionals, which will be played May 14-16.