MADISON, Wis. – With an impressive final round of golf, sophomore
Joey Vrzich captured the first individual title of his collegiate career at the Badger Invite, hosted by Wisconsin.
Vrzich tied the tournament course record on Tuesday with a final round of 65, which also set a career low for the southern California native. He began the day one shot back of the 36-hole leader and traded the lead back and forth until he reached the back nine. Vrzich played the final nine holes at 6-under par, which included a sequence of birdie, birdie, par, eagle, birdie, birdie on holes 10-15.
With all three of his rounds for the week under par, he finished the event at 13-under par, three shots better than runner-up Lachlan Barker of Iowa State. Vrzich's win is the second individual win for the Wolf Pack in the last two seasons.
As a team, Nevada tied for third place in the 12-team field along with Iowa State. The Pack combined for a team score of 287 (1-under) in the final round and finished the event at 1-under par. Illinois State, which led from day one, captured the team title at 9-under, four shots better than second place Kansas.
Elsewhere for the Wolf Pack,
Sam Harned kicked off his junior season with a top 15 finish, tying for 11
th place in the 78-player field. Harned fired a 1-under 71 today, his best round of the tournament, and finished at even par for the tournament. Fellow junior
Sam Meek carded the third-lowest round for Nevada on Tuesday with a 3-over 75 and tied for 51
st place. Freshman
Trey Davis and junior
Stephen Osborne struggled in their final rounds, shooting rounds of 76 and 77 respectively. Davis tied for 29
th in his collegiate debut and Osborne grabbed sole possession of 37
th.
Newcomer
Tony Gil, who was entered as an individual, capped his Wolf Pack debut with a round of 75 in his final round. He tied for 63
rd place.
Nevada returns to the course Sept. 25-26 for the Husky Invitational at Aldarra Golf Course in Sammamish, Wash.
Nevada Players
1.
Joey Vrzich – 70-68-65=203 (-13)
T11.
Sam Harned – 73-72-71=216 (E)
T29.
Trey Davis – 76-70-76=222 (+6)
37.
Stephen Osborne – 77-70-77=224 (+8)
T51.
Sam Meek – 78-75-75=228 (+12)
T63.
Tony Gil (ind.) – 86-72-75=233 (+17)
