Cougars Finish Fifth at Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational

ERIE, Colo. – Senior Preston Bebich and sophomore Sam Renner each finished their rounds under par to help Washington State to a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, played Tuesday at the par-72, 7,787-yard Colorado National Golf Club.
 
As a team, the Cougars shot an even-par round of 288 Tuesday, finished the 54-hole event at 5-under, 859, five strokes behind UTEP and Colorado State. San Francisco led from start to finish as they concluded the tournament at 19-under, 845, two shots ahead of host Colorado.
 
“It was another pretty solid week,” said WSU Head Coach Dustin White. “The guys played in some tough, windy conditions and managed their way around. The wind came from the opposite direction today which made the golf course played extremely different. The finish to the round today stings a bit, but we need to learn from it and then get back to work.
 
“We’ve got another good test coming up in Corvallis next week so we need to be ready to go again,” White continued. “We’ve seen a lot of good golf so far this semester, we just haven’t been able to piece it all together at the same time yet.”
 
For the second-straight tournament, Renner finished as the low Cougar, concluding his tournament with a 1-under, 71 Tuesday. His round included an eagle and four birdies, all on the back 9, as he finished in a tie for 17th at 2-under, 214. The eagle was the second of the tournament for Renner. Bebich had WSU’s low round Tuesday, firing a 3-under 69. Bebich’s round included five birdies and gave him a two-day score of 1-under, 215, tied for 21st overall. His 14 total birdies over the two days tied for third-most in the field.
 
Also tied for 21st was senior Jaden Cantafio, who opened the tournament with a 69 before shooting back-to-back 1-over 73’s on his final 36 holes. Fifth-year senior Pono Yanagi started strong, sitting at 1-under through 13 holes, but could not keep it going as he finished his round at 3-over, 75. Yanagi’s, who shot even-par 72 on his first two rounds, finished the tournament at 3-over, 219, tied for 41st overall.
 
Sophomore Daniel Kim shot a nine-over 81 on Tuesday to finish his event at 10-over, 226, tied for 68th overall.
 
The Cougars are next in action Oct. 9-10 at the…