Rohnert Park, Calif. - On Monday March 29th, the Seawolves men's golf team resumed competition after their week break at Silverado Golf Club in beautiful Napa Valley. Academy of Art played host to the tournament this week as SSU's head coach, Val Verhunce, looked to keep his squad sharp coming off of a first place finish at the Pioneer Shootout two weeks prior.

Round 1: After the first day of the Academy of Art Invitational, the Seawolves finished in second place out of the five competing men's teams. The men finished with a team score of 306, just 7 strokes ahead of Cal State East Bay. Three of the Seawolves' five golfers finished with a sub-80 round and sophomore Thomas Jenkins Jr. led the way with a low round of 73 (+1). Jenkins Jr. was nearly flawless on the front nine recording just one bogey but scoring a birdie 9 to get back to even par. Despite a triple on 10, Jenkins Jr. would go on to birdie 14, 16, and 18 to finish 1-over par on the day.

Senior Devin Gregg also picked up the pace on the back nine as he recorded three birdies to shoot -2 on the back side helping him to a +3 finish on the day. Thomas Jenkins Jr, Devin Gregg, and Griffin Pace all finished the opening round inside the top-10 individually with Jenkins Jr. scoring second best round of the tournament. The men would be in a great position heading into round two on Tuesday to make a run at the tournament title and capture their second straight championship in their spring competition. 

Round 2: Ahead by seven strokes and needing to make up some ground in the final round, the Seawolves did just that as they posted a team score of 296 good for the lowest team score of the day. Sonoma State would pull off the comeback to beat Cal State East Bay by 3 strokes to give them the tournament championship! The Seawolves had massive performances from all five of their golfers to help complete the comeback. After shooting a first round +17, freshman Nick Friedman would bounce back in a big way and shoot a 73 (+1), good for the Seawolves second lowest round of the day! He also recorded two birdies to finish -2 on the back side to end the round.  

Devin Gregg and Thomas Jenkins Jr. were the big stars of the week as they finished in a three way tie for first place individually in the tournament. Despite the tiebreaker going to the Cal State East Bay golfer, both Gregg and Jenkins Jr. get credit for an individual tournament victory. This would go down as Jenkins's first collegiate tournament victory! Jenkins Jr. shot 1-under par on the front nine and recorded an eagle on the 9th hole par 5 to get off to a fast start. Gregg was also solid all day for SSU as he shot an even par 72 in his final round and was credited with an individual tournament victory in the three way tie. Griffin Pace, Dylan Otto, and Nick Friedman all finished inside the top-20 individually in the tournament as well. 

In three tournament appearances for the Sonoma State men's golf program this spring, they have now secured a tie for first in the NNU Nighthawks Invitational and two outright team championships in the Pioneer Shootout and now the Academy of Art Invitational! "The resiliency our teams showed was really impressive to watch. I was really proud to see a lot of our guys bounce back from different setbacks and miscues and complete the comeback. I believe in the talent all of our players have and when they commit and believe in themselves they have all the ability in the world to be successful" (HC, Verhunce).  

The Seawolves will take a week off as they prepare for their first home tournament event of the year at Santa Rosa Country Club. SSU will play host in the Sonoma State Spring Invite on April 12th and 13th. Head to sonomaseawolves.com for the latest updates and information on Seawolf athletics.         

Sonoma State Men's Golf SmugMug