Tournament: Battle in the Desert
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Location: La Quinta, Calif.
Course: PGA West Mountain Course (par-72 / 6,666 yards)
CSUSM's Place:  6th out of 16 teams
Team Winner: Cal State East Bay (868, +4)
Top Cougar:  T7. Jason McElroy (217, +3)
Winner:  CSUSB's John Kim (210, -6)

COURSE REPORT:  With winds reaching up to 28 miles per hour on the back nine, the No. 23/NR Cal State San Marcos men's golf team placed sixth at the Battle in the Desert on Wednesday afternoon.

FIRST TEE

• Jason McElroy was CSUSM's top golfer, tying for seventh with a 1-over 217 (73-70-74).
• Matt Pennington and Matthew Moss both struggled, falling out of the top 10. Pennington tied for 21st with a 4-over 220 while Moss tied for 27th with a 5-over 221.
• Cutter Ayres finished with a 7-over 223 for a share of 35th place.
• Greg Mouser tied for 68th place with a 18-over 234.

TEAM SCOREBOARD
1. Cal State East Bay 292-284-292 – 868 (+4); 2. Cal State San Bernardino 283-288-298 – 869 (+5); 3. Cal State Monterey Bay 286-296-289 – 871 (+7); 4. Chico State 289-283-301 – 873 (+9); 5. Sonoma State 288-298-292 – 878 (+14); 6. Cal State San Marcos 288-286-307 – 881 (+17); 7. Hawaii-Hilo 289-294-299 – 882 (+18); T8. Western Washington 293-300-291 – 884 (+20); T8. Cal State Dominguez Hills 288-295-301 – 884 (+20); T8. Western New Mexico 292-295-297 – 884 (+20); 11. University of Colorado-Colorado Springs 291-295-299 – 885 (+21); 12. Stanislaus State 288-295-303 – 886 (+22); 13. Saint Martin's 299-293-302 – 894 (+30); 14. Montana State Billings 298-295-305 – 898 (+34); 15. Cal State San Bernardino (B Team) 316-310-316 – 942 (+78); 16. Regis 309-314-326 – 949 (+85).

INDIVIDUAL SCOREBOARD
1. John Kim (CSUSB) 68-69-73 – 210 (-6); T2. Easton Hether (CSUEB) 71-71-69 – 211 (-5); T2. Nathan Jetton (Stan) 69-72-70 – 211 (-5); 4. Jack Deaner (CSUMB) 71-74-69 – 214 (-2); 5. Tyler Ashman (Chico) 72-69-74 – 215 (-1); 6. Jordan Lee (WWU) 70-74-72 – 216 (E); T7. Jason McElroy (CSUSM) 73-70-74 – 217 (+1); T7. Dakota Ochoa (Chico) 75-71-71 – 217 (+1); T7. Dustin Franko (UHH) 73-73-71 – 217 (+1); T7. Fraser Owenson (CUSEB) 73-72-72 – 217 (+1); T7. Simon Bjorken (CSUMB) 72-72-73 – 217 (+1); T7. Junsu Im (UHH) 70-74-73 – 217 (+1); T7. Isaac Calderon (CSUSB) 72-71-74 – 217 (+1); T7.Arnav Arkanath (WNMU) 72-69-76 – 217 (+1); T7. Mark Williams (CSUSB) 69-72-76 – 217 (+1). OTHER CSUSM SCORERS: T21. Matt Pennington 70-72-78 – 220 (+4); T27. Matthew Moss 72-70-79 – 221 (+5); T35. Cutter Ayres 73-74-76 – 223 (+7); T68. Greg Mouser 81-74-79 – 234 (+18).
 
INSIDE THE SCORECARD

• Ayres led the field in Par 3 scoring (2.92, -1).
• Pennington recorded his second career hole in one in the first round.
• CSUSB's John Kim was crowned the individual medalist with a 6-under 210 (68-69-73).
• Cal State East Bay, who finished the tournament at 2 p.m. before the strong winds appeared, won the team title with 4-over 868 (292-284-282) to defeat two-round leader CSUSB by one stroke.
   

UP NEXT
The Cougars head up to the Bay Area for the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout on March 13-14.