CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. – Alexandre Vandermoten shot back-to-back sub-70 rounds and finished T3 at the Cal Poly Invitational on Tuesday.
Jacksonville University men's golf concluded the fall season on the west coast with a 12th place finish in the strong field.
Vandermoten finished strong in a second round that was broken up due to darkness on Monday night. He played nearly blemish free over the course of the two days, making four birdies in his first 10 holes, including a stretch of three-in-a-row on holes with three different pars. His lone hiccup was on the Par-4 11th, and his finished the round shooting a 5-under 67, tied for the third-lowest second round in the field.
He started his third round with a pair of birdies again on his first nine, and finished the day even stronger. He carded four more birdies in his final nine holes, including back-to-back on the Par-4 10th and 11th holes. He made six total in the third round and shot a 4-under 68 to register his fourth career top-five finish, and his second-straight, after placing T5 at The Carolina Cup. His 5-under scoring on Par-4s was third-best in the field on such holes. He was also 4-under on Par-5s and made a team-best 14 birdies.
Josef Hacker was JU's next-best finisher, ending the event T25. His second round started with a few bogeys, but he got hot after that, making birdies on three of four holes at one point and totaling four in his first 10 holes. He finished the round with seven pars over his final eight holes for a 1-under 71.
Things were quieter in the afternoon, as he sat -1 through the first 10 of the third round. A rough patch cost him three strokes over the next four holes, but he closed with another birdie on the Par-5 13th and three more pars for a 73. He put in strong work on Par-3s, shooting even par to lead the team and tie for the fourth-best score overall on such holes. His 36 total pars led the team and was one of the top totals in the event.
Filip Raza climbed out of an early hole in his second round thanks to a birdie on his seventh hole and an eagle on the Par-5 8th to get back to even par. He dropped a stroke again before sinking consecutive birdies on the Par4 12th and Par-5 13th and closed with a pair of pars for a 1-under 71.
His third round was a bit of a roller coaster, starting with a birdie on his first hole, followed by going +3 on the next two, and making another birdie on his fourth hole of the round. He had three more plus-number holes, but also added two more birdies the rest of the day and closed things out with a 75.
Jack Neill battled through a tough second round, managing two birdies and 10 pars and improved in the final round. He had one major blemish, with a triple bogey on the Par-4 10th, but sank two birdies and 13 pars in the afternoon.
Daniel Montalvo made 11 pars and two birdies in the second round and followed that up with eight more pars and three additional birdies in the third round.
With the fall season now concluded, the team returns to the course in January for the Pablo Creek Collegiate Cup on Monday, January 22, a match play event against the defending national champion Florida Gators at Pablo Creek Club.
