On Oct. 5 and 6, the Idaho Vandals men’s golf team traveled to Corvallis, Oregon, to compete in the Oregon State Invitational, hosted by Oregon State University. The Vandals played at Trysting Tree Golf Club, which measured 7,374 yards at a par 71. Idaho finished the two-day event in 11th place out of 12 teams with a three-round total of 856 (+4).
The Vandals came into the first two rounds with a consistent performance, finishing at par in both rounds. Despite that, this was not enough to give them much leverage on the leaderboard, as they sat tied for eighth place with Eastern Washington after the first round. Idaho then dropped to ninth place in the second round as teams such as Eastern Washington moved toward the top of the leaderboard with an 11-under-par round.
Then, in the third round, the men’s golf team finished at 4-over-par, tying CSU Fullerton for the second-worst third-round score. Teams such as Boise State were able to separate themselves from the field by shooting 10-under-par in the final round.
Even with rounds at par and only 4-over-par in the final round, the Vandals struggled to hold a notable position on the leaderboard as the competition continued to play at a high level. Idaho finished only ahead of Gonzaga, which finished 20-over-par, and the final standings pushed the Vandals down two spots from ninth place to 11th.
Leading the Vandals this time around was sophomore Henry Koglin, who ended the tournament at 2-under-par, tying for 17th place. He had a slow start, finishing 2-over-par in the first round, but quickly came back with a 1-under-par second round and a 3-under-par third round. Koglin finished with rounds of 73, 70 and 68 for a three-round total of 211 (-2).
Senior Carter Frisby also had a strong tournament, tying for 27th place with a total of 213. He started the first two rounds at 1-under-par before cooling off in the third round, finishing 2-over-par. Frisby ended the tournament at even par.
Rounding out the Vandals lineup was junior Charley Simpson, who tied for 39th place at 3-over-par after finishing the first two rounds at par. Freshman Brae Rogalczyk, coming off a top-two finish in the previous tournament and a Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honor, tied for 54th place at 5-over-par.
Sophomore Ben Buchanan also tied for 54th at 5-over-par after a strong first-round performance at par. Junior Jacob Vasquez, competing as an individual, tied for 61st place at 7-over-par.
Overall, the Vandals put together a consistent tournament but were unable to move up the leaderboard against a highly competitive field. Idaho’s final score of 4-over-par was enough to keep the Vandals ahead of Gonzaga, but the low scores throughout the rest of the field made it difficult for the team to gain ground.
Oregon finished first at 17-under-par, with Boise State trailing at 12-under-par. Oregon State and Eastern Washington tied for third place at 10-under-par, with Eastern Washington putting together an impressive second round at 11-under-par.
In total, nine of the 12 teams in the tournament finished under par, while the top four teams all finished at 10-under-par or better. The results showed how competitive the field was throughout the two-day event and how much each stroke mattered on the leaderboard.
The Vandals will look to bounce back next week when they travel to the OS Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational on Oct. 12, hosted by the University of the Pacific.