The Vandal men’s golf team was able to bounce back after a poor second round to finish in fifth at the WAC Championship tournament Wednesday in Las Vegas.
The Vandals had a solid first round performance with a 294 on Monday and were tied for fourth at the end of the first day, but things went south for the Vandals in the second round when they shot a 313 to put them in seventh place heading into the third and final round. On Wednesday, the Vandals recovered with a 303 to bounce back and finish the tournament in fifth.
New Mexico State took home the WAC crown, finishing six strokes better than second place Texas-Arlington. The Aggies blazed through the first round with a 286 and never looked back. New Mexico State finished every round in first place. San Jose State took third and Texas-San Antonio took fourth, finishing seven strokes better than Idaho.
UTA’s Paul McConnell took home the individual medal with a two-over 218, finishing just two strokes better than New Mexico State’s Kenneth Fadke. There was a tie for third between San Jose State’s Landon Polterock and New Mexico State’s Justin Shin.
Idaho senior Gordon Webb was Idaho’s top finisher and was part of a six-way tie for fifth at five-over. Sophomore Aaron Cockerill was next for Idaho and continued to have a stellar season with a tie for 16th at 11-over. Cockerill was also awarded second-team All-WAC honors.
Sophomore Zach Wanderscheid came in 26th after a solid final round of 72, sophomore Sean McMullen came in 33rd at 18-over and freshman Dylan Baker rounded things out for the Vandals with a tie for 38th with a 20-over 236.
The tournament concludes an up and down year for Idaho. The good news for the Vandals is that they will be bringing back all but two athletes from this year’s roster. This young team showed flashes of its potential at times, but struggled with consistency.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]