Matthew Hedges at 2018 Otter Invitational

David Royal

Otters Will Return To NCAA Championship Tournament

May 12, 2019 | By: By Kevin Gilmore (@OtterKevin)

CSUMB completes remarkable comeback as all five Otters go red in the final round

FINAL RESULTS

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Cal State Monterey Bay completed its remarkable turnaround at the NCAA West Regional Championship Tournament with another spectacular round Saturday at The Ledges Golf Club to earn a third place finish and a berth in the NCAA National Championship Tournament.

The Otters earned a chance to play for the national title for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons thanks to a torrid final two rounds that brought them back from near disaster to the promised land.

"Finally!," exclaimed a jubilant Jason Owen following Saturday's final round. "Today I got to see the Otters play they way I believe they can all of the time. We had all five guys under par and that is what I believe they are capable of doing a lot more."

CSUMB needed every bit of that effort to jump three teams in the final round. After Elis Svard (Sodertalje, Sweden) and Edward Hackett (Santa Clara HS) willed the Otters to a 9–under 279 in the second round to move from 12th place to sixth, all five Otters went red Saturday, contributing to a 6–under team round that wrapped up the NCAA bid.

Svard and CCAA individual champion Matthew Hedges (Ashland [Ore.] HS) led the way by finishing at 2–under 70. Hackett, Brian Whitson (Advance, Mo./Logan College) and freshman Hayata Utsunomiya (Osaka, Japan) each finished 1–under. Their efforts completed a rally from 10 strokes out of contention following the first round.

Four Otters finished in the top half of the 108–player field, led by Svard, who placed eighth overall at 5–under 211. Hackett and Hedges tied for 30th at 1–over 217. Whitson was two strokes back in 42nd place. Utsunomiya just missed the top half with a respectable 6–over 222, good for a share of 59th place.

In addition to CSUMB, the other West Region teams advancing included host Dixie State, which won the tournament at 17–under 847, and CCAA rivals UC San Diego (2nd) and Sonoma State (4th). Other CCAA finishers included Chico State (6th), Stanislaus State (8th) and Cal State East Bay (18th).

GO OTTERS!

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