Fresno State

Oct. 12, 2009

FRESNO, Calif. -

Rain cancelled the final round of the Alister MacKenzie Invitational scheduled for Tuesday. The Dogs finished in fifth place overall. The team and individual results from the 36-holes played Monday will be considered the final results. The following is a recap of the first day's action:

The Meadows Course yielded some low scores in the morning until heavy winds and rain took over the afternoon, but the Fresno State Bulldogs battled through the day and stand in a solid fifth place in the prestigious Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif.

Team Scores

Individual Results

After two rounds combined the Dogs are 11-under par with a score of 557, one shot from fourth place Oregon State and two back of Colorado. Cal shot 17-under in the second round and owns the lead at 23-under par (545). There are 15 teams in the tournament.

The Dogs posted the second-lowest score of the first round with a 14-under par total of 270, just three shots back of Oregon and five strokes ahead of the rest of the field.

Michael Gideon led the Dogs in the first round with a 65 and sat atop the leader board early in the tournament. He had an eagle and seven birdies to go with three bogeys. Gideon played the back nine holes at 5-under par.

2009 WAC Player of the Year Grant Doverspike had three birdies and an eagle for a 4-under par 67, as did Adam Barkow, who posted five birdies and one bogey on the round.

After the wind and rain rolled in, the Dogs didn't finish as well as they would have liked, posted three late double bogeys for a second round total of 3-over par 287 on the par-71 course.

The only Bulldog to post red scores in the second round was Bhavik Patel with a 66. He shot that despite a double-bogey on his final hole, the par-4 third hole. He had six birdies on the back nine, including five in a row on holes 14-18. He is tied for eighth in the tournament at 5-under par 137.

Patel is coming off a second-place finish in last week's Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, Nev., and during the summer reached the semi-final round of the United States Amateur Championships.

Doverspike, who shot even par in the second round, is one shot behind at 138. He had five birdies on the day, and had two eagles on No. 15th, a 508-yard Par-5 hole.

Gideon is tied for 16th place and sits 3-under par (139) with seven birdies and one eagle on the day. Hall of Fame Coach Mike Watney was especially pleased with Gideon's first round. According to Watney, Gideon didn't play well last week in Nevada but he shot a 63 with nine birdies and an eagle during his practice round on Sunday and that carried over to his first round of the day.

"Michael was able to carry his practice round on the course and played great in the morning," said Watney. "But when the rain and wind started, he told me he expected the scores to go up, which was natural, but he learned that's not the right mentality. We saw some other schools make up ground when the weather turned bad."

Adam Barkow shot a 67 on the front nine, posting five birdies and one bogey. He shot a 76 in the second round. Bryan Hogan stands at +7 after two rounds. On the day, the Dogs combined for 31 birdies and three eagles.

"They guys are pretty disappointed," said Watney. "We played a very solid first round but gave away some shots coming in. We had three double bogeys and a couple bogeys in the last three holes. Making double bogeys is bad and we have to find ways to make bogeys instead of doubles. When you look at how close we are behind the teams ahead of us, each shot makes a big difference. You never want to finish like that. With the weather forecast calling for 100-percent chance of rain, it doesn't look like we will get the last round in tomorrow. We have five guys on our team who who can shoot 66, so I like our chances to move up but we might not get the opportunity."

"We are Your Team" The Bulldog men's golf team will compete in the University of the Pacific Invitational in Stockton,Calif. Nov. 2-4.