By Felix Petersson
San Jose State men’s golf teed off its first event of 2018 with a three-day, 54-hole tournament in Hawaii at the Amer Ari Invitational.
The Spartans finished 50 strokes behind No. Oklahoma State, who won the event, placing them tied for 12th of the 18 participating teams.
“We didn’t exactly play our best,” Spartan coach John Kennaday said in an interview with SJSU Athletics. “As the week went on, we held on to our mistakes too long and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves that way.”
However, the Spartans opened the tournament well, posting their best first round score for the season Thursday. Four of five SJSU players scored par or better and the team was tied for sixth place after the first day.
Day two was different however, as SJSU dropped five spots, falling back to eleventh. No player scored more than three-over par.
“We got a little ahead of ourselves,” Kennaday said. “We didn’t have our best day out there today, Kennaday said to SJSU Athletics. “We focus well when we focus on the process. We need to get back into the process tomorrow.”
The Spartans did not however, as it failed to rebound Saturday, and dipped one rank in the final 18 holes.
Individually, junior Kevin Velo was the top finisher on SJSU’s roster at one-under par. He tied for 41st place in the 114-player field. Sean Yu matched par for the tournament, which was enough to end 47th.
“We were given the opportunity to play against the best,” Kennaday said to SJSU Athletics. “…One thing we must do is we must develop shorter memories and keep our eyes looking forward.”
Next up for the men’s golf team is the Southwestern Intercollegiate tournament, Feb. 26-27 at the North Ranch Country Club Course in Westlake Village, California.