California State University Northridge Athletics
Memorable Matador Moments - Men's Golf Captures Big Sky Championship
4/6/2020 9:03:00 AM | Men's Golf
Behind individual champion Anthony Marciano, the CSUN men's golf team captured its first-ever Division I conference championship just over 20 years ago this week.Â
In their fourth season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, the Matadors hosted the conference championship at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard. CSUN opened with a team round of 287 to carry a two-shot lead over Sacramento State into the second round. The Matadors closed with rounds of 291-288 to finish with a team total of (+2) 866, seven shots better than Idaho State which finished second at (+9) 873.
tie for 9th at the Big Sky
Championship
Marciano, a senior from Simi Valley, led from start to finish, winning the individual title by two strokes over Weber State's Dustin Volk and Sacramento State's Phillip Cuthbertson. Marciano opened the championship with a blistering round of five-under 67 to lead by three strokes after 18 holes. He then posted consecutive rounds of 73 over the final two rounds to finish the championship at three-under 213. Both Volk and Cuthbertson finished at one-under 215.
Junior Paul D'Ambra also finished in the top-five, claiming fourth-place at even-par 216 following rounds of 74-71-71. Junior Manny Hays and senior Tim Wren made it four CSUN players in the top-10 as both tied for ninth at four-over 220. Junior Lance Dombroski rounded out the Matador individual scorers, tying for 21st at 10-over 226.
CSUN, which had never finished higher than fourth at the Big Sky Championship, claimed the conference's first-ever automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The Matadors advanced to the NCAA West Regional at Riverbend Golf Club in Fresno where they finished 17th as Marciano led CSUN with a 66th-place finish.
Following the championship, D'Ambra, Hays, Marciano and Wren all were named to the 2000 All-Big Sky Conference Team. Head coach Jim Bracken was named the conference Coach of the Year.
"We picked up three transfers from the College of the Desert (D'Ambra, Dombroski, Hays) and it just changed the depth and dynamic of the team," said Bracken. "All of a sudden we had a group of experienced players who were successful at the JC level and it really pushed our guys to be successful. We had a lot of top-10 finishes that season and then played well at regionals."
BIG SKY MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Oxnard, Calif.
River Ridge G.C.
Mar. 1-3, 2000
| 1. | CSUN | 287 | 291 | 288 | 866 (+2) |
| 2. | Idaho State | 294 | 291 | 288 | 873 (+9) |
| 3. | Sacramento State | 289 | 292 | 295 | 876 (+12) |
| 4. | Weber State | 296 | 292 | 290 | 878 (+14) |
| 5. | Portland State | 296 | 288 | 295 | 879 (+15) |
| 6. | Eastern Washington | 305 | 298 | 297 | 900 (+36) |
| 1. | Anthony Marciano, CSUN | 67 | 73 | 73 | 213 (-3) |
| 2. | Dustin Volk, WSU | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 (-1) |
| 2. | Phillip Cuthbertson, SAC | 70 | 71 | 74 | 215 (-1) |
| 4. | Paul D'Ambra, CSUN | 74 | 71 | 71 | 216 (E) |
| 5. | Preston Hafer, ISU | 75 | 72 | 70 | 217 (+1) |
| 6. | Brett Woods, ISU | 73 | 73 | 73 | 219 (+3) |
| 6. | Matt Logan, PSU | 71 | 79 | 69 | 219 (+3) |
| 6. | David Gums, SAC | 73 | 72 | 74 | 219 (+3) |
| 9. | Manny Hays, CSUN | 74 | 74 | 72 | 220 (+4) |
| 9. | Tim Wren, CSUN | 75 | 73 | 72 | 220 (+4) |
| 1. | Anthony Marciano | 67 | 73 | 73 | 213 (-3) |
| 4. | Paul D'Ambra | 74 | 71 | 71 | 216 (E) |
| 9. | Manny Hays | 74 | 74 | 72 | 220 (+4) |
| 9. | Tim Wren | 75 | 73 | 72 | 220 (+4) |
| 21. | Lance Dombroski | 72 | 79 | 75 | 226 (+10) |
#UniteTheValley
