Cowboys crush field at San Diego Classic, take three of top four spots

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team rolled to its sixth victory in seven starts on the year with a 32-shot triumph on Tuesday at the Lamkin San Diego Classic at San Diego Country Club.

The margin of victory was the widest for the top-ranked Cowboys since a 51-stroke win at the 1985 Rebel Intercollegiate Classic in Las Vegas. Since that victory, the Cowboys had logged a trio of 31-shot wins, doing so at the 1987 Oak Tree Shootout, the 1988 All-America Intercollegiate and the 1990 Big Eight Championship.

Additionally, the win was the fifth in a row for the Cowboys, tying strings of five consecutive by the 1994-95 and 1976-77 teams for the fourth-longest streaks in program history.

The Cowboys entered their final round with a 13-shot cushion before blistering the par-72, 7,033-yard layout with a 21-under 267 to finish at 44-under 820. Texas Tech closed with a 280 to finish second at 852, while Arizona was third at 860.

Tech’s Fredrik Nilehn brought home medalist honors, finishing at 15-under 201 after posting a 66 during his third round.

OSU produced finishers 2-3-4 in sophomore Viktor Hovland, freshman Matthew Wolff and junior Zach Bauchou, respectively.

Hovland fired a 64 to move up five spots into solo second at 13-under 203. The finish was his second runner-up showing of the year and marked his fourth consecutive top-four performance.

After opening with a birdie at the first, he reeled off three in a row at Nos. 5-7 to turn in 4-under 32. Hovland opened his inward nine with birdies at the 10^th and 12^th before carding his seventh and eighth of the day at Nos. 14-15 for another side of 4-under 32.

Wolff closed with a 66 to move up two spots into sole possession of third place at 12-under 204. Over his last five starts, he now has three runner-ups in addition to his third-place showing.

Bauchou signed for a 69 to finish at 10-under 206 and alone in fourth place. He now has five top 10s in his last six starts.

Senior Kristoffer Ventura posted his first sub-70 round of the event, finishing with a 68 to vault 17 spots into a tie for 11^th place at 213.

Freshman Austin Eckroat rounded out the starting five with a 75 to finish at 219 and tied for 32^nd place.

The Cowboys will put their streak on the line on March 18 when they begin play at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational at The Floridian Golf Club.

Team Scores

1. Oklahoma State—270-283-267=820
2. Texas Tech—292-280-280=852
3. Arizona—285-288-287=860

T4. North Carolina—288-284-293=865

T4. Ole Miss—283-298-284=865

Individual Scores

1. Fredrik Nilehn, Texas Tech—69-66=201
2. Viktor Hovland, OSU—69-70-64=203
3. Matthew Wolff, OSU—66-72-66=204
4. Zach Bauchou, OSU—65-72-69=206

T11. Kristoffer Ventura, OSU—70-75-68=213

T32. Austin Eckroat, OSU—75-69-75=219