The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team finished ninth at the 77th Western Intercollegiate. The Mocs shot 360 over the final 18 for a total of 1,082 at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Paul Conroy led Wednesday’s effort with 1-over 71. The trio of Garrett Engle, John Houk and Samuel Espinosa each tallied 72s with Braedon’s Wear 73 completed the score. Dalton Chuba had the drop with 75.
Engle had quite a week. He ended up with his second top 10 of the season tying for ninth at even-par 210.
Engle’s play against this field is arguably his second best as a Moc behind last year’s tie for fourth with world No. 1 Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) at the 2023 Linger Longer Invitational.
“It was a great week for G,” Coach Blaine Woodruff shared. “His game has been building over the last month or so. It really didn’t surprise me that he was in contention this week. He’s in such a good spot physically and mentally.”
Chuba was next in a tightly bunched Mocs 6-player list with 217. Wear followed at 219 with 220 by Conroy. Houk’s 22 nipped Espinosa by one. The competition certainly prepared the Mocs for the postseason that starts Sunday.
“We did a lot of good stuff this week,” Woodruff continued. “This course will test every bit of patience you have. There’s not a pin you can go after, and you have to be clear and exact in your decision making, both in process and execution, on every shot.
“I believe we sharpened our minds this week preparing for postseason play.”
Stanford got the win with a 1058 total. That was five clear of 8th-ranked Washington and six ahead of No. 21 Cal. Filip Jakubcik of Arizona was medalist. His 4-under 206 earned a one shot win.
The Mocs open the postseason Sunday at the Southern Conference Championships. The event returns to the Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Eatonton, Ga. The field plays 18 holes per day completing the 54 on Tuesday afternoon.
77th Western Intercollegiate
April 15-17 (Mon-Wed) | Santa Cruz, Calif. | 54 holes (18 per day)
Pasatiempo G.C. | Par 70 | 6,615 yards
1) (38) Stanford: 354-355-349=1058 (+8)
2) (T8) Washington: 355-357-351=1063 (+13)
3) (21) Cal: 356-364-344=1064 (+14)
4) (25) Oregon: 356-359-350=1065 (+15)
5) (T8) Arizona: 348-363-355=1066 (+16)
6) (17) Texas: 363-353-351=1067 (+17)
7) (34) San Diego St.: 360-353-355=1068 (+18)
8) (41) BYU: 359-356-359=1074 (+24)
9) (42) CHATTANOOGA: 358-364-360=1082 (+32)
10) Pepperdine: 370-355-368=1093 (+43)
T11) San Jose St.: 358-364-372=1094 (+44)
T11) UNLV: 372-361-361=1094 (+44)
13) UC Irvine: 387-371-365=1123 (+73)
14) Hawaii: 375-381-371=1127 (+77)
Individuals
T9) Garrett Engle: 72-66-72=210 (E)
T39) Dalton Chuba: 68-74-75=217 (+7)
T50) Braedon Wear: 70-76-73=219 (+9)
T54) Paul Conroy: 74-75-71=220 (+10)
T61) John Houk: 77-73-72=222 (+12)
T65) Samuel Espinosa: 74-77-72=223 (+13)
Field (Top 100 ranking)
(42) Chattanooga, (9) Arizona, (41) BYU, (21) Cal, UC Irvine, Hawaii, (50) UNLV, (25) Oregon, (51) Pepperdine, (34) San Diego State, (52) San Jose State, (38) Stanford, (17) Texas, (8) Washington