by staff–16 Feb ’21
The Wyoming men’s golf program had a busy and successful day to open the 2021 spring golf season on Monday. The Cowboys began play at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif., against a national field that featured nine Top 50 ranked teams in a field of 24 collegiate golf programs. UW opened with a strong round of 291 (+7) to tie for 16th with Northwestern Oregon State and Cal Poly. The Pokes were led by sophomore Tyler Severin, who fired a round of 69 (-2) to tie for seventh entering Tuesday’s second round.
While the Cowboys were opening The Prestige, Wyoming junior Bryce Waters, Director of Golf and Head Coach Joe Jensen and donor Rick Gasser were representing the University of Wyoming at the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase at Riveria Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. There they won the team competition against seven other collegiate golf programs and earned a $50,000 donation for the Wyoming Golf Program.
The Prestige, La Quinta, Calif.
The Prestige is being played on a very difficult course, the Greg Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta. In addition to Severin, Wyoming’s other four players competing include: sophomore Jared Edeen, who opened with a 73 (+2) to tie for 52nd; junior Carl Underwood, who is tied for 69th at 74 (+3); sophomore Kirby Coe-Kirkham is tied for 83rd at 75 (+4); and senior Dan Starzinski, who is tied for 110th at 78 (+7).
Arizona State leads in the team competition. The No. 9 ranked Sun Devils fired an opening round 276 (-8). They lead No. 12 ranked Pepperdine by five strokes. Pepperdine shot a 281 (-3). The individual leader is David Puig of Arizona State, who posted a first round score of 64 (-7) to lead three other golfers by three strokes.
Separate from the team competition being played on the Greg Norman Course at PGA West, there is also a group of individual golfers playing at The Prestige Individual Invitational at Coral Mountain Golf Club in La Quinta. Wyoming redshirt freshman Liam Clancy enjoyed an outstanding first day, shooting a 68 (-4) to tie for second place entering Tuesday’s second round. Clancy trails leader Derek Hitchner of Pepperdine by three strokes.
Wyoming will tee off in the second round of The Prestige beginning at 8:40 a.m., Mountain Time (7:40 a.m., Pacific Time) on Tuesday, with the third and final round to be played on Wednesday. The Greg Norman Course at PGA West measures 7,100 yards and plays to a Par 71.
Wyoming Group Wins $50,000 Donation at the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase
This year’s Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase, which is tied to Tiger Woods’ tournament the Genesis Invitational, featured seven collegiate golf programs. Those seven programs were: Kentucky, Minnesota, Oakland University, San Diego State, University of San Francisco, USC and Wyoming.
Each program had one college player, who played his own ball throughout the round, and two donors/alums representing their school. Rounding out the foursome for each school was a PGA tour professional. Wyoming’s college player was Waters and their donors/alums were Cowboy director of golf Jensen and donor Gasser. The PGA tour pro who played with Wyoming was Peter Malnati.
Each team’s professional and amateurs play a best-ball round with the top three-person team winning a $50,000 donation to the school’s golf program. The low collegiate golfer earned an exemption into the 2021 Genesis Invitational, rounding out the field of 120 players.
Jensen, Gasser and Malnati combined for a best-ball round of 62 (-9). They tied with Minnesota for the top spot, but Wyoming won the tiebreaker by birdeying the 18th hole and therefore the Cowboys took home the $50,000 donation to the Wyoming Golf program.
Waters was competing for an exempt spot in the PGA’s Genesis Invitational later this week. That spot was eventually won by University of Minnesota’s Angus Flanagan on the third hole of a playoff with Tim Widing of the University of San Francisco. Flanagan and Widing shot rounds of 71 (Even) through 18 holes. Waters finished just six strokes back at 77 (+6) and finished sixth out of the seven golfers competing.
“This was a big day for our program,” said Jensen, UW Director of Golf and Head Men’s Golf Coach. “The guys have done a phenomenal job with a lot of moving parts these last few days. It was a unique start to our season in that we were competing in two different tournaments on the same day.
“The guys did a great job of preparation. We had a good start in the first round of a very competitive, national field at The Prestige, and it was an incredible opportunity for us to play in the Genesis Collegiate Showcase that is associated with Tiger Woods’ PGA event.
“It was great for us to represent our school well by winning the team competition at the Collegiate Showcase and Bryce (Waters) played a competitive round against some of the nation’s top players. I was proud of the way he played today. Our PGA pro, Peter Malnoti, was great and great with Bryce throughout the day. I’m very proud of our school to win this event.
“I also want to compliment, John Murdock (Graduate Assistant Coach) for the great good job he did helping prepare us for this week.
“I’ve challenged our team to have a good showing in a national tournament like The Prestige, and day one was a good start. I’m proud of Tyler (Severin) and Jared (Edeen) particularly in the way they opened the tournament. Now I’m looking for us to play a good round tomorrow and keep ourselves on track to be competitive in a very strong field.”
Team Standings ((Played on the Greg Norman Course at PGA West)
1. Arizona State 276 (-8)
2. Pepperdine 281 (-3)
3. North Carolina 282 (-2)
4. Arizona 283 (-1)
5. SMU 285 (+1)
6. Marquette 286 (+2)
7. Nevada 287 (+3)
USC 287 (+3)
UC Davis 287 (+3)
10. California 288 (+4)
11. Oregon 288 (+4)
TCU 289 (+5)
Iowa State 289 (+5)
Long Beach State 289 (+5)
15. San Diego State 290 (+6)
16. Wyoming 291 (+7)
Northwestern 291 (+7)
Cal Poly 291 (+7)
Oregon State 291 (+7)
20. Stanford 292 (+8)
21. Texas Tech 293 (+9)
22. Colorado 295 (+10)
23. Denver 297 (+13)
24. UCLA 299 (+15)
Wyoming Cowboys
Tie 7th Tyler Severin 69 (-2)
Tie 52nd Jared Edeen 73 (+2)
Tie 69th Carl Underwood 74 (+3)
Tie 83rd Kirby Coe-Kirkham 75 (+4)
Tie 110th Dan Starzinski 78 (+7)
Wyoming Cowboys Playing as Individuals (Played on Coral Mountain Golf Cllub, separate from Team Competition)
Tie 2nd Liam Clancy 68 (-4)
