LOMPOC, Calif. — Saint Mary's rallied on the final day of the La Purisima College Invite and ended up just four shots back of the leader San Diego to claim second place in their second tournament of the fall. Senior Blake Hathcoat also put together his best round of the event to claim medalist honors in the 32-man field.
THE LEADERBOARD The Gaels shot even par on the day to gain eight strokes on the Toreros and came close to pulling off the come from behind win. Hathcoat led the way for SMC with a 4-under score and seven birdies on the day.
The senior blew the rest of the competition out of the water, easily claiming medalist honors by six strokes over his nearest challenger. It was Hathcoat's second-ever first place finish in a college tourney but his first time winning outright.
Hathcoat's clinching putt on 18th
Hathcoat wasn't the only Gael to shoot 4-under on the day however as Ethan Farnam put together another quality performance to end up tied for fifth after a slow start. Ethan Ashbrook shot a steady 1-over on Tuesday to claim 13th place. Ryan Grauman finished in 18th and Michael Slesinski rounded out the Gaels lineup in 21st.
Individual Evan Peterson had a solid finish to his tournament to claim t-15th on the leaderboard. The Gaels' other individuals Dylan DeProsperis and Jonathan Curran ended up t-19th and 27th, respectively.
Saint Mary's finished 15 strokes ahead of Loyola Marymount and 23 strokes in front of BYU. The full leaderboard can be viewed here.
FINAL ROUND HIGHLIGHTS
Hathcoat had birdies on three of his first four holes on the day and three more in a row on the back nine
Farnam had an eagle on the 566 yard par 5 sixth hole, the only eagle of the tournament
Hathcoat was solid all-around with the second best score on par 3's, second best on par 4's, and t-3rd best on par 5's
Ashbrook was 1-under on the front 9 with eight pars
Hathcoat was the only player to shoot in the 60's twice
DeProsperis had back-to-back birdies on six and seven
UP NEXT: RUSTIC COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
Saint Mary's will compete in the Rustic Collegiate Classic between Nov. 5-6 in their final tournament of the fall. Links to live scoring can be found on the team's schedule page.
