GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The Gonzaga men's golf team finished second at the Neville Kovacs Group Intercollegiate, led by seventh place finishes by James Fahy and Angus Montgomery at the Palm Valley Golf Club Tuesday.
The Zags entered the third and final round in second place, and remained there through the last 18 holes. GU carded a 292 (+4) total in Round 3. It ended the 54-hole tournament 10-over par (874). Fahy and Montgomery both finished the tournament tied for seventh at one-under par.
"We were 13 shots back of first going into the round and we knew we needed to put together a very good round and get some help from the leaders to have any chance," Gonzaga Head Coach Robert Gray said. "The wind came up early and made the finishing holes very challenging. We were making some ground up, but ran into some trouble on some of those finishing holes and finished six back of first. I'm proud of the guys for the way they competed all week."
Fahy carded a 68 (-4) in the third round. He had five of his 10 birdies in the tournament Tuesday. The senior was four-under through the front nine, and shot par on the back nine. He had 32 pars in the tournament, along with an eagle in the second round.
After an impressive five-under par second round, Montgomery finished one-under (71) in Round 3. He had four birdies, and ended the tournament with 12, the second-most in the tournament. The sophomore was tied with two other golfers as the best on the four par-three holes in the tournament. He averaged 2.92 on the par-threes.
"Solid showings this week by James and Gus," Gray said. "James found his ball striking today and posted a great round of 68, tying the low round for the day. He didn't hit it as well as he's capable but definitely a lot better than the previous two days.
"Gus backed up his great round of 67 yesterday with another solid round of one-under. It's great to have him eligible and in the lineup after sitting out the fall due to transfer regulations."
Sean Walsh finished seven-over in 33rd place. He shot a 79 (+7) in the final round. Brendan Connolly was six-over (78) Tuesday. He tied for 41st at nine-over in the tournament. He was one of only seven golfers to shoot at least even on the par-four holes in the tournament. Will Brueckner eagled the second hole in the third round, and finished three-over par. He was 13-over for the tournament.
"Will rebounded well, playing holes one through three at one-under, after some trouble on the 17th and 18th holes," Gray said. "Brendan and Sean didn't have their best day but they never gave up and stuck with it all day. Sometimes things don't go your way but you have to stay positive and get everything you can out of every round."
Utah Valley stayed atop the team leaderboard for the third straight day. The Wolverines were 11-over par in Round 3, and ended the tournament at four-over (868). Utah shot two-over Tuesday, and tied with Gonzaga for second.
Arizona State's Broc Johnson took medalist honors. He was four-under in the third round. He totaled 207 strokes through 54 holes, which was nine-under par, five strokes ahead of second place.
The Bulldogs host the Bandon Dunes Championship from March 13-15. Live results from the Bandon Dunes Course will be available on GoZags.com, with links to Golfstat.com.
"We haven't come close to playing to our potential as a team this spring," Gray said. "Yet, we have our best ranking and best head-to-head record in program history at this point in the season. We've finished two shots behind the second-ranked team in the country and six shots out of first in our first two events. We're not where we want to be but we're definitely headed in the right direction, showing we can compete with the best and compete for titles. We're very excited to get down to Bandon Dunes for our next event in a couple of weeks."
