GOLF | Reis and Bressum Make WCC All-Preseason Team, Gaels Picked to Finish 3rd
1/18/2024 4:00:00 PM | Men's Golf
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Saint Mary's Golf Team was picked to finish Third in the WCC Preseason Coaches' poll, with Connor Reis and Kristian Bressum selected to the All-Preseason Team.
The Gaels received 33 points in the preseason poll, finishing two points ahead of Pepperdine, and 10 points behind San Francisco, who received one first-place vote.
Bressum and Reis are coming off outstanding fall seasons. Reis led the Saint Mary's Golf team to a win the 2023 Nick Watney Invitational Championship in September with a program-record 195 strokes over 54 holes. He finished 18-under par to set the tournament record and set the program single-round record with a 62.
Reis' 195 strokes topped the 197 by Jonathan De Los Reyes at the WCC Championships in 2016 and by Pavan Sagoo at the Nick Watney in '15. The junior's 18-under is the second-best, 54-hole finish in program history to De Los Reyes' 19 under at in that WCC Championship along with being the Nick Watney tournament record.
The Claremont, Calif. native missed par only once over the three rounds this season, and racked up 19 birdies to lead all golfers. His 62 in round two edged out the 63s shot by Jonathan De Los Reyes, Mac McClung, and John Chirla for the SMC, single-round program record, with De Los Reyes' being the most recent in 2014.
Reis would match the feat again with a 62 in the third round of the White Sands Invitational finishing 14-under for the three rounds. Reis finished in second place, just one shot off the individual title.
Bressum tied that single-round record of 62 in October at the Alister McKenzie Invitational with some of his most consistent play as a Gael. The junior made nine birdies in round two in Fairfax, Calif. for 14 in total over the first two rounds. He would finish fourth overall in that tournament and his 199 strokes tied for fourth-best in program history over 54 holes.
Last season, Bressum Competed in all 13 tournaments and had the lowest average score on the team at 72.82 strokes per tournament. Bressum's best finish came at the Saint Mary's Invitational, where he overcame a challenging first round to secure an outstanding third-place finish. He led the team in rounds at par or better with a season total of 19 and was named to the West Coast Conference's All-Academic Team.
As a sophomore, Reis played in all 13 events, averaging 72.87 strokes per tournament. Had the second most rounds of par or better at 16 total for the season and had a season-low score of 6-under par at the Ping Cougar Classic.
The Gaels are slated to start up the spring schedule January 29-30 at the National Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona.
WCC Preseason Team
Trevor Algya, LMU
Kristian Bressum, Saint Mary's
Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine
Tony Hendricks, LMU
Riley Lewis, LMU
Jakob Melin, San Francisco
JP Odland, Santa Clara
Ben Partridge, San Francisco
Connor Reis, Saint Mary's
Andi Xu, San Diego
WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll
LMU (7) 49
San Francisco (1) 43
Saint Mary's 33
Pepperdine 31
Santa Clara 25
San Diego 23
Pacific 12
Gonzaga 8
#GaelsRise
The Gaels received 33 points in the preseason poll, finishing two points ahead of Pepperdine, and 10 points behind San Francisco, who received one first-place vote.
Bressum and Reis are coming off outstanding fall seasons. Reis led the Saint Mary's Golf team to a win the 2023 Nick Watney Invitational Championship in September with a program-record 195 strokes over 54 holes. He finished 18-under par to set the tournament record and set the program single-round record with a 62.
Reis' 195 strokes topped the 197 by Jonathan De Los Reyes at the WCC Championships in 2016 and by Pavan Sagoo at the Nick Watney in '15. The junior's 18-under is the second-best, 54-hole finish in program history to De Los Reyes' 19 under at in that WCC Championship along with being the Nick Watney tournament record.
The Claremont, Calif. native missed par only once over the three rounds this season, and racked up 19 birdies to lead all golfers. His 62 in round two edged out the 63s shot by Jonathan De Los Reyes, Mac McClung, and John Chirla for the SMC, single-round program record, with De Los Reyes' being the most recent in 2014.
Reis would match the feat again with a 62 in the third round of the White Sands Invitational finishing 14-under for the three rounds. Reis finished in second place, just one shot off the individual title.
Bressum tied that single-round record of 62 in October at the Alister McKenzie Invitational with some of his most consistent play as a Gael. The junior made nine birdies in round two in Fairfax, Calif. for 14 in total over the first two rounds. He would finish fourth overall in that tournament and his 199 strokes tied for fourth-best in program history over 54 holes.
Last season, Bressum Competed in all 13 tournaments and had the lowest average score on the team at 72.82 strokes per tournament. Bressum's best finish came at the Saint Mary's Invitational, where he overcame a challenging first round to secure an outstanding third-place finish. He led the team in rounds at par or better with a season total of 19 and was named to the West Coast Conference's All-Academic Team.
As a sophomore, Reis played in all 13 events, averaging 72.87 strokes per tournament. Had the second most rounds of par or better at 16 total for the season and had a season-low score of 6-under par at the Ping Cougar Classic.
The Gaels are slated to start up the spring schedule January 29-30 at the National Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona.
WCC Preseason Team
Trevor Algya, LMU
Kristian Bressum, Saint Mary's
Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine
Tony Hendricks, LMU
Riley Lewis, LMU
Jakob Melin, San Francisco
JP Odland, Santa Clara
Ben Partridge, San Francisco
Connor Reis, Saint Mary's
Andi Xu, San Diego
WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll
LMU (7) 49
San Francisco (1) 43
Saint Mary's 33
Pepperdine 31
Santa Clara 25
San Diego 23
Pacific 12
Gonzaga 8
#GaelsRise
Players Mentioned
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