Ege Second, CSUN Tied for Fourth in Sacramento

ELK GROVE, Calif. - Freshman Mats Ege opened with scores of 71-75 and is in second-place while the CSUN men's golf team is tied for fourth after two rounds Monday at the Sacramento State Invitational at Valley Hi Country Club.

Ege, coming off a third-place finish at last week's Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, had four birdies in each round Monday on his way to a two-over total of 146. Freshman Eirik Thomassen and sophomore Tomas Helgo are also in the top-15 through 36 holes at seven-over 151.

With teams battling sustained winds near 20 mph with gusts up to 30, the Matadors finished with rounds of 302-305 to a day one total of 607. Cal State Fullerton leads the 10-team field, made up primarily of Big West schools, with a team score of 598. UC Santa Barbara is four shots back at 602 while the host Hornets (605), CSUN (607) and UC Irvine (607) round out the top-five.

CSUN SCORES

Ege, who was in 12th-place after carding an opening-round 75, tied for the second-lowest afternoon round at 71. The Matador freshman got as low as two-under in round two before a bogey and double-bogey at No. 16 and No. 17 dropped him to one-over. But a birdie at the par-5 4th brought him back to even and another birdie at No. 6 took him to one-under for the round and two-over for the day. Ege heads into the final round just two shots behind Jack Dyer of Cal State Fullerton (E, 144).
Thomassen had five birdies over two rounds, posting rounds of 75-76 for a two-round seven-over 151. Helgo, who is competing as an individual, had seven birdies on the day. He opened with a 75 before a second-round 76 also left him at (+7) 151.
Senior Michael Zhang, competing as an individual, is tied for 25th at 11-over 155 following rounds of 76-79. Sophomore Paul-Louis Gachet is one shot back of Zhang in a tie for 30th at 12-over 156 (74-82).
Junior Blake Brothers and freshman Brandon McDonough rounded out the CSUN lineup as Brothers is tied for 35th at 13-over 157 (77-80) and McDonough is tied for 59th at 23-over 167 (88-79).
In addition to Zhang and Helgo, Gabriel Barnes and Sevian Frangipane are also competing as individuals. Barnes is currently tied for 35th at 13-over 157 (75-82) while Frangipane is 58th at 22-over 166 (82-84).

COACH JIM BRACKEN SAID
"Mats didn't hit the driver very well today but he he battled to stay around even-par which is what good players do. We grinded things out today and played ok, but we continue to finish rounds poorly. We need to learn how to close out rounds without giving shots away and hopefully we can start tomorrow."

The Matadors will be paired with UC Irvine and Cal Poly for the final round which tees off with a shotgun start beginning at 8:30 a.m.

#UniteTheValley

Ege Second, CSUN Tied for Fourth in Sacramento

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gabriel Barnes

Blake Brothers

Mats Ege

Sevian Frangipane

Paul-Louis Gachet

Tomas Helgo

Brandon McDonough

Eirik Thomassen

Michael Zhang