FRESNO, Calif. —The Gonzaga men's golf team placed 10th at the Nick Watney Invitational hosted by Fresno State at the San Joaquin Country Club.
 
The Zags moved up two spots after completing the third round with a score of 15-over (299). They finished the tournament with a total score of 44-over (896). As a team, the Bulldogs finished with 173 pars, tying them for fifth in the field, only four behind CSU-Fullerton, who led all other teams with 177.
 
Gonzaga's Holden Backes made 12 pars and two birdies in Round 3, finishing four-over (75). He tied for 36th overall at nine-over (222). Backes, along with teammate Clayton Thatcher, finished with 37 pars in the tournament. Thatcher tied for 40th at ten-over (223). He made 11 pars and three birdies in the final round en route to a two-over (73).
 
Charlie Magruder's three-over (74) in the third round left him tied for 60th, finishing 16-over (229) for the tournament. Zack Stocker (+18, 231) and Andrew Reinhardt (+19, 232) finished in 68th and 71st place.

"A much better day on par 5's today, playing them in +1," GU Head Coach Robert Gray said. "Still a work in progress but a move in the right direction. The wind was up today making the course a bit harder. The guys hung in there and we're able to move up the board a couple of spots. It was good to get our first event under our belts. Looking forward to playing like we're capable of in our next event."
 
CSU-Fullerton won the team title at seven-under (845), led by Harry Doig (-3, 210), Garrett Boe (-2, 211), and Tegan Andrews (-1, 212). Sacramento State's Ethan Davidson finished atop the individual leaderboard at seven-under (206) after carding a combined eight-under (134) in the final two rounds. As a team, Sacramento State finished second with a two-under (850).
 
Gonzaga will head to the Georgetown Intercollegiate next at Four Streams Golf Club in Beallsville, Md. The tournament is on Oct. 10-11. Live scoring will be available at GoZags.com