Idaho takes team title, fills up top three spots on leaderboard
The Big Sky Conference Championships are starting to stack up for the Idaho athletic program. After the men’s and women’s tennis teams won their Big Sky Championships Sunday, the Idaho men’s golf team decided to get in on the action.
The Vandals won the Big Sky Conference Championship and Idaho sophomore Jared du Toit won the individual title Wednesday in Angels Camp, California.
Darin Hogge | Weber State University Athletics
Sophomore Jared du Toit follows through on a stroke during the Big Sky Championship in Angels Camp, California. Idaho won the championship by 21 strokes over Sacramento State
and du Toit won the individual title with an 8-under-par 208. Idaho swept the top three spots with senior Aaron Cockerill finishing second and freshman Dan Sutton finishing third.
The Vandals shot an 8-under-par 856, beating second-place Sacramento State by 21 strokes. Idaho’s score also broke the Big Sky Conference Championship record by four strokes.
Du Toit took the individual title by firing an 8-under-par 208, including a second-round low 69 and a third-round low 66.
“Winning the conference championship is one of the steps of having a successful season,” Idaho coach John Means said. “It wasn’t the step to having a successful season. It was one of the steps.”
Now, Idaho will move on to the NCAA Regional Championships. The bids come out Monday and will determine which regional each team will play in.
Du Toit is the No. 1-ranked player in the Big Sky, so he was the favorite heading into the Big Sky Championship.
“He had all those expectations on him to perform,” Means said. “If he doesn’t win, if he finishes second, it’s viewed as a failure. So he had that pressure on him.”
The Vandals also took the next two spots on the player leaderboard. Senior Aaron Cockerill finished second with a 3-under-par 213 and freshman Dan Sutton tied for third with Sacramento State’s Luke Kristo with an even-par 216.
Means said one of the goals was for the Idaho players to fill up the top five spots on the leaderboard.
“We didn’t quite get there, but one-two-three is pretty good,” Means said.
Means said when he coached at Army, he had a team that filled the top five spots one time.
The Big Sky Championship went as scripted in some ways.
“The top three ranked players in our conference are one — Jared, two — Aaron, three — Dan,” Means said. “They’re the top three players ranked in the conference and they finished one-two-three.”
Du Toit, Cockerill and Sutton each shot their best score in the final round to help solidify their places on the leaderboard. Cockerill posted a 3-under-par 69 and Sutton carded a 1-under-par 71.
“They know they’re good, they know they have the talent to post low numbers,” Means said of his players. “Once in a while, when they stop thinking about where they’re going to put the ball and just hit it, that’s when they get in trouble and that’s what happened that first round.”
Idaho junior Rylee Iacolucci also finished in the top 10. He shot a 5-over-par 221 and tied for 9th with Weber State’s Devon Purser. Iacolucci also saved his best golf for last, as the junior from Cle Elum, Washington, shot a 2-under-par 70 in the third round.
Idaho sophomore Ryan Porch tied for 16th with Weber State’s Michael Johnson, shooting an 11-over-par 227 to round out the scoring for the Vandals.
The championship started Monday with the first round, continued Tuesday with the second round and ended Wednesday with the third round. Idaho took control from the start and didn’t let up as the Vandals shot the low round each day (295, 285 and 276).
The Big Sky title was the Idaho men’s golf team’s first conference title since the Vandals won the Big West in 2000, but Means said Idaho still has goals left on the table.
“Getting to regionals is just part of the trip,” Means said. “It’s not the end. It’s just part of
the trip.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]