UW Finishes Third, Manke Seventh At Western Intercollegiate
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The No. 6-ranked Washington men's golf team posted the best team score of the day and finished in third place at the 75th annual Western Intercollegiate Wednesday at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Washington scored a 8-under 342 in the final round to finish the tournament with a three-day score of 1,91, 41 strokes over par. No. 9 Texas (1,075, 25-over) held off No. 8 Pepperdine (1,076, 26-over) by one stroke to win the event.
"To have the best in the final round is always pleasing," said UW head coach Alan Murray. "Third place isn't what you hope for coming into the week, but all things considered, it was a good ending."
The Huskies went to the final hole behind San Diego State, but edged the Aztecs by a single stroke in the end.
RJ Manke led the way for the Huskies, finishing in a tie for seventh place at 4-over for the tournament. On Wednesday, he made a 1-under 69, capped by a birdie on the final hole that moved his team past SDSU and into third place. It was the ninth top-10 finish in 11 tournaments this season for Manke, a fifth-year senior from Lakewood, Wash.
Senior Noah Woolsey was 2-under for the day, with three birdies and just one bogey for a 68. He finished the tournament at 6-over par, good for a tie for 13th place overall.
Teddy Lin carded a three-over 73 in the third round, placing him at 10-over and in a tie for 25th place in the tournament.
Petr Hruby and Taehoon Song both had the best individual round-three score among their Husky teammates, each carding a 3-under 67. Song made five birdies and Hruby had four. Song moved 17 spots up the individual leaderboard with his score, finishing tied for 32nd overall. Hruby moved up 29 places to tie for 44th, having improved his round-two score by 14 strokes.
Bo Peng also tied for 44th place. He made an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole on Wednesday and scored a 1-over 71.
"It was great to see RJ make that birdie on the last hole," Murray said. "One through six, the guys all played well."
Washington has finished nine of 11 tournaments during the 2021-22 season in the top three, including the last eight in a row. The Huskies have five tournament victories (one of them a tie), while finishing second once and third on three occasions.
"It wasn't our best week, but there were enough positive signs to head into Pac-12 with optimism," Murray said. "It was nice to have a good final day and move up the leaderboard. Congratulations to Texas. They obviously played great, as did Pepperdine. We were too far behind to mount a serious challenge."
The Western Intercollegiate was the final event of the regular season for the Huskies, who will next play at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships. The UW will serve as the tournament host at Aldarra Golf Club in Sammamish, Wash., April 25-27.