Just a week after Sophie Hausmann tied the Big Sky Conference Tournament record for women with a 7-under 65, Enrique Marin matched her.
Colton Clark
The junior linksman took home third-place honors over the weekend and tied the tournament record former teammate Ryan Porch set with a 7-under 65 in the third round of the conference finals, held at Nevada’s Boulder Creek Golf Course.
“Today was a big day for Enrique,” Idaho Head Coach David Nuhn said in a news release. “The most impressive thing is that he was really playing at this level all week, he just finally made a bunch of putts today. I’m super happy to see him finish the season on such a high note. For him to finish third is awesome and well deserved.”
Idaho hung out in fifth out of eight teams throughout the first and second rounds, but thanks to Marin’s career day and an assist from freshman Cole Chrisman, the Vandals vaulted to a third-place finish, 24 strokes behind champion Northern Colorado.
“What a day for Vandal golf,” Nuhn said. “This was a huge step forward for our program. It was a complete team effort all week. They stayed locked in on what their goals were and picked each other up when they needed it.”
Marin commenced the tournament on a streak, to say the least. He parred every single hole but one in the first round. His only variation? A birdie on the third-longest hole on the course, the 533-yard, par 5 fifth.
Every other Vandal carded 4-over 76s on the first day.
The only factor that kept Marin out of a first-place finish was his 2-over 74 in the second round. He eventually finished only two strokes behind eventual medalist, Northern Colorado’s Andrew Romano.
Instead, it was Chrisman, one of Idaho’s two freshman, who came to the Vandals’ aid in the second.
His card ended up resembling a checkerboard, considering his birdie-par-bogey cadence. The rhythm ceased after the 14th hole, when he carded his final birdie of the day before finishing out the round with four-straight pars.
But it was the third and final round which proved most satisfactory for Idaho. Marin carded an unimaginable six birdies on the front nine, stringing together three on the third through fifth holes.
His one bogey came on the eighth hole, a 189-yard par 3. However, he parred the first three on the back nine before birdying two, and eventually parring the rest to notch the best single-round of the tournament.
Chrisman finished in a tie for 12th after a 2-over third, while sophomore Brock Anderson and freshman Adam Veenstra eached notched top-25 finishes.
Idaho’s season is over, but after decidedly its best tournament of the year, and considering it returns all five of its core, the outlook is fair.
“I’m excited for the future of our program,” Nuhn said. “All of these guys are coming back and it’s only up from here for the Vandals.”
Colton Clark can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @coltonclark95