Cougars Tied for Third After First Round of Pacific Invitational

STOCKTON, Calif. – Sam Renner and Preston Bebich each shot opening rounds of 5-under, 67, to lead Washington State during the first day of play at the 2023 Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational Monday at the par-72, 7,278-yard Reserve at Spanos Park course.
 
Backed by the play of Bebich, Renner and Pono Yanagi, all of whom went under par Monday, Washington State sits tied for third overall at 10-under, 278, three strokes off the lead held by Utah and Grand Canyon. The 10-under par opening round tied for the eighth-lowest single-round to par in program history.
 
Renner was solid throughout his round, taking advantage of the par 5 holes as he birdied three of four on the day. After beginning his round with back-to-back birdies, Renner’s lone bogey came at the par-4 fifth. He went four-under the rest of the round to finish at 5-under, 67, two strokes off the lead.
 
Bebich was equally impressive as he also collected six birdies on his opening 18 holes. Starting on the front, Bebich got to 3-under after eight holes before bogeying the par-4 ninth. He was clean on the back 9, throwing three more birdies at the course to also finish at 5-under, 67, and tied for sixth.
 
Yanagi had it to two-under after his opening nine holes before recording three bogeys sandwiched around a birdie over the next four holes to get back to even par. He managed to birdie two of the final five holes, including a birdie on the closing hole to finish his round at 2-under, 70, to sit tied for 20th overall.
 
Jaden Cantafio birdied the par-4 seventh to get to 1-under, but three bogeys over the finial 11 holes saw him finished the round at 2-over, 74, tied for 58th. Drayton Joseph shot an opening-round 76, which included a lone birdie on No. 11 as he sits tied for 72nd overall.
 
Nate Plaster, playing as an individual at the Pacific Invitational, had three birdies on his round before finishing with a 6-over, 78, tied for 87th.
 
Second-round play at the 2023 Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational continues Tuesday. WSU is scheduled to tee off at 8:24 a.m. PT.