Rice University
11th Annual Rice Intercollegiate presented by Srixon
New Mexico State Captures Rice Intercollegiate
2/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 22, 2011
Rice Intercollegiate Final Results
HOUSTON - New Mexico State's Gaston De La Torre birdied the final three holes of the 11th Rice Intercollegiate presented by Srixon to capture the individual championship by three strokes and help lead the Aggies to the team title of the tournament played Monday and Tuesday at Westwood Golf Club.
De La Torre began Tuesday's final 18 holes a shot back of second-round leader Gustaf Kocken of Louisiana-Monroe. De La Torre started Tuesday's round with a birdie on No. 1. His only bogey of the day came on No. 15 before finishing the day with three straight birdies.
De La Torre finished with a nine-under par 207, establishing a new tournament record for a three-round score. The former record was a 209 shot by Northwestern's Scott Harrington in 2003.
In addition to De La Torre, NMSU teammate Joon Heui Lee shot a three-under par 213 to finish eighth individually. The pair helped the Aggies to a three-stroke victory for the team title.
"Gaston had a great tournament and to finish out his round today with three straight birdies is a tremendous accomplishment," said New Mexico State head coach Scott Lieberwirth. "It was a breakout performance for him. I thought Collin (Pratt), Tim (Madigan) and Joon (Lee) all played solid golf."
New Mexico State shot a tournament record 853 (-11). Florida Gulf Coast finished second with an 856 (-8) while Wichita State was third (-857). Houston was fourth, carding a three-round 865 (+1) while host Rice and Texas State tied for fifth with 869 scores (+5).
"We played hard," Rice head coach Drew Scott said of the Owls' final round. "Unfortunately we didn't make the putts and execute as well as we would have liked. But I feel like that was our best tournament of the year and we can certainly build on that the rest of the spring."
Finishing in a three-way tie for second in the individual standings was Bowling Green's Drew Preston, FGCU's Brandon Pena and Wichita State's Calvin Pearson who were all six-under for the tournament with 210, three-round scores.
Rice was led by Michael Whitehead who tied for fifth with a five-under par 211. Playing in his final Rice Intercollegiate, the senior began the tournament with an opening-round 73. A 72 later in the day put him in a tie for 11th after 36 holes.
All three rounds of the tournament featured a shotgun start and Whitehead began his final round at No. 7. He birdied his first hole and was at four-under through his first nine holes of golf.
"I was very proud of how Michael played," Scott said. "It was a good rebound from last week when he finished 29th. I think there may have been some added pressure since we play the course more than on a frequent basis. Sometimes that kind of pressure is tough to overcome. Still, it was a great finish and I know he will be hungry to do well in our last five tournaments."
Finishing just outside the Top 10 and in a tie for 11th was Rice freshman Jeff Wibawa who played the tournament as an individual. Wibawa shot a two-under par 70 Tuesday to finish with an even-par 216 for the tournament.
Rice junior Erik Mayer shot a one-over par 73 in carding a 219 for the tournament and finishing in a tie for 23rd.
Rice returns to action March 13-15 when it travels to Louisiana Tech Bulldog Classic played a Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La.
