Sacramento State men’s golf hosted the Sac State Invitational on Monday and Tuesday for the first time in ten years, but failed to come out and defend their home course.

The Hornets finished the tournament in seventh place out of 14 teams and were led by senior Ryan Williams and junior Jordan Weir, who both finished the tournament under par in the final round.

“We are disappointed in the way we came out and finished the tournament,” said Hornets’ head coach Christopher Hall.

Williams redeemed his first round 5-over-par, by finishing the last two rounds of the tournament under par. In the second round, Williams finished with a 3-under-par and one round later he finished shooting 2-under-par. 

“The whole tournament I didn’t really make a lot of putts, which really cost me some holes in the first round,” Williams said. 

Williams finished the tournament at even-par, posting a 54-hole total score 77-69-70, 216. The senior came within four inches from sinking an eagle on the opening hole of the third round.

“The difference between a mediocre or a good round is making the putts when it counted,” Williams said. 

Weir, like Williams, was able to rebound after a 4-over-par first round to come back and finish 1-under-par in the last two rounds. Weir was able to mix up birdies, pars and bogeys together to finish with a solid 54-hole score. 

Weir finished the tournament 2-over-par 76-71-71, 218, giving the junior his second best finish of the season.     

The Hornets had a rough first round, but were able to rebound to give them their third best finish as a team this season. 

Hall said that the Hornets’ slow start was because the team was really out of their comfort zone this week due to the home meet. 

“The pressure of the high standards we set for ourselves to come out and do well definitely had an effect on our team’s performance in the first round,” Hall said.

Sac State set up the course in order for golfers to make smart decisions with their shots, with a few challenging holes like the fifth hole and the 17th. 

“The 17th hole was a hole you couldn’t be aggressive on with a driver, because you can make a costly mistake by hitting in the water, like I did,” Swanson said. 

Swanson could not find the hole this week, especially in the third round when he finished 11-over-par. The junior finished the tournament with a 54-hole score 76-77-83, 236. 

“I would rate my performance a two out of 10,” Swanson said. “This was my worst tournament of the year, by far.” 

Swanson said he would like to have the par-5 13th hole back because he finished the whole with a quadruple bogey. 

“In the 10 years I have been playing out here, I have never scored a nine on 13,” Swanson said. 

Sac State travels to Laguna Niguel, Calif. to compete in the Anteater Invitational on March 25-26.

 

 

Clifton can be reached on Twitter at @jonesSHsports