March 10, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - UC Davis senior Ramie Sprinkling birdied three holes on the front nine to start off strong and eventually finished with a 3-under 69 on Tuesday, taking home medalist honors for the second time this season as the Aggie men's golf team placed third at the Fresno State Lexus Classic.
The Aggies shot their third consecutive round of 4-over 292 to finish the 54-hole tournament at 12 over. UC Davis' Phil Huffman, the 36-hole leader at 5-under, shot 76 and tied for a career-best fifth in his season debut. Fresno native Nate Pistacchio fired a 71 and moved up to place 24th at 5-over, Austin Graham tied for 66th and Tyler Raber tied for 69th.
The No. 14 University of Washington blistered the 6,511-yard Belmont Country Club for a 7-under 281on Tuesday, finishing the two-day event at 1-over and beating the host Bulldogs by five strokes. The 24th-ranked Aggies - who shared the 36-hole lead with the Huskies - tied with Big West Conference rival UC Irvine for third at 11-over but UC Davis was given the nod for third on tiebreakers.
Sprinkling picked up his second win of the season after capturing the Michigan Wolverine Intercollegiate in September with a 7-under 206. Tuesday's victory was also his third top-10 performance of the year. Sprinkling had birdies on both the eighth and ninth holes on Tuesday to go to 3 under at the turn. He posted par on the next seven before finishing bogey-birdie for his 69.
Todd Angel of Fresno State, Colin Featherstone of San Diego State, and Washington's Nick Taylor tied for runner-up honors two shots behind Sprinkling.
Huffman shot a 67 in Monday's second round to take the lead going into the final 18 holes. He had a scrambling 76 on Tuesday in a round that featured five birdies and six pars. The tournament, though, was his best career finish, surpassing the tie for 13th he had in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in 2006.
Pistacchio, playing in front of family and friends in his hometown, bogeyed two of his first three holes before carding birdies on four of the next five, making the turn 3-under. He eventually settled back to a 1-under 71.
Graham was just 1 over on the back during his round of 77 while Raber's 77 was highlighted by a trio of birdies, two of them on the front.
UC Davis had its seventh top-10 showing in eight tournaments this season and its fourth in the top five over its last four events.
The Aggies will take a break for final exams, resuming at the Oregon Duck Intercollegiate on Mar. 23-24.
FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC
Belmont Country Club (Fresno, Calif.)
Par 72, 6,511 yards
Final results
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Washington, 299-285-281-865
2. Fresno State, 290-300-280-870
T3. UC Davis, 292-292- 292-876
T3. UC Irvine, 295-298-283-876
5. San Diego State, 297-295-285-877
T6. BYU, 296-294-291-881
T6. San Diego, 301-298-282-881
8.San Jose State, 303-293-293-889
9. Nevada, 300-295-296-891
10. Pacific, 302-295-296-893
T11. Oklahoma, 305-294-298-897
T11. Sacramento State, 306-300-291-897
13. Cal State Northridge, 297-305-296-898
14. Texas El-Paso, 314-296-294-904
15. UC Santa Barbara, 307-294-304-905
16. Arizona State, 306-302-303-911
T17. Boise State, 304-302-307-913
T17. Fresno City College, 318-291-304-913
19. Hawaii, 316-308-306-930
20. Cal State Bakersfield, 321-314-305-940
INDIVIDUALS
1. Ramie Sprinkling, 68-75-69-212
UC DAVIS
T5. Phil Huffman, UC Davis, 72-67-76-215
24. Nate Pistacchio, 76-74-71-221
T66. Austin Graham, 76-76-77-229
T69. Tyler Raber, 76-78-76-230
