Arriving in La Quinta, California for the Big West Championship earlier this week, the Vandals returned to the green for the first time since losing the second inaugural Battle for Idaho on April 15. They bounced back, finishing under par as a team for the first time this Spring.
Idaho’s 1200-mile journey to the La Quinta Country Club was notably longer than the commute that most participating teams had. The Vandals were one of two teams out of the 12 participating teams that are not located in California. This was the Vandals first season back in the Big West, and they finished six strokes out of third place.
Long Beach State won the tournament, finishing 22-under as a team. Idaho finished 2-under, highlighted by Josh McCartain’s 4-under finish. He was one of just 17 golfers to finish under par and took eighth place out of 72 participants.
Dalton Dean finished tied for 18th place, finishing even par after going 1-under in rounds two and three. Joe Sykes and Matthew McGann both finished tied for 21st place and would have finished quite a bit higher were it not for second-round struggles.
The Big West Championship was the final tournament of the school year for Idaho. The fall season starts back up in September, and a good portion of this year’s Vandal golfers are anticipated to return.
Liam Bradford can be reached at [email protected]