Otters Finish Strong For First Title of Season

Cooke, Christian, Lekkerkerk place in Top 5

October 13, 2026

By: Kevin Gilmore (@OtterKevin)

LEADERBOARDS | TEAM-BY-TEAM RESULTS

SEASIDE, Calif. — Cal State Monterey Bay crushed the field by 14 strokes in the final round to earn an 12-stroke victory at the 2026 Otter Invitational men's golf tournament Tuesday at Bayonet Golf Course.

CSUMB's 8-under 276 Tuesday was the lowest round of the tournament by any team and the best round of the day by 14 strokes over runner-up Menlo College, which began the day with a 3-stroke lead over the Otters. That left CSUMB at even par for the tournament, 12 strokes ahead of Menlo.

"The Otter Invitational is always my favorite event of the year, but it's even better when you win," said CSUMB Head Coach Jason Owen. "The guys battled hard and played great!"

Cal State San Bernardino finished a distance third, 28 stroke bhind the Otters. Cal State San Marcos (+33) and Chico State (+35) rounded out the Top 5.

Individually, Otter senior Derek Lekkerkerk (Twin Falls [Id.] HS) carded the tournament's best round with a 6-under 65 Tuesday to vault 23 places up the leaderboard to a fifth place finish at 2-over. Joining him in the Top 5 with Alex Cooke (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and Ben Christian (Dexter [Mo.] Senior HS) who placed second and third at 1-under and even-par, respectively.

Freshman Tintin Wallin (Kungsangen, Sweden) shot par Tuesday with a 71 and made it a quartet of Otters in the Top 10 with an eighth-place finish. Zaid Khan (29th) and Zach Easterling (36th) also finished in the top half of the 74-golfer field.

CSUMB will take a fortnight off before heading to the Big Island for the Dennis Rose Invitational Oct. 26-27 at Mauna Lani Golf Club.

GO OTTERS!

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