The Cal State Northridge men’s golf team hosted its annual Bill Cullum Invitational this week, finishing in 12th place overall. UC Santa Barbara took the team title, with a total score of 870, while their own Brian Hollenbeck claimed the individual title with rounds of 71-71-70, finishing at 4-under-par 212.

For the Matadors, freshman Nick Delio and junior Chris Satterlee finished tied for 20th with total scores of 8-over-par 224. Delio posted rounds of 78-71-75, while Satterlee carded rounds of 72-81-71. They were the only two Matadors to shoot rounds under-par.

CSUN had two teams in this week’s field, a red and a black team. The Matador Red team, led by Satterlee, got rounds of +10, 226 from John Gilles (74-75-77), +14, 230 from Jason Rosenkranz (79-75-76), +25, 241 from Clint Oleson (86-78-77) and +35, 251 from Greg Gauvin (84-84-83). With Delio leading the way for the Matador Black team, they carded rounds of +10, 226 from Jeff Freund (75-75-76), +16, 232 from Aaron Hobbs (77-77-78), +21, 237 from Erik Jarvey (80-72-85) and +23, 239 from Kyle Nicolson (79-78-82).

After finishing in second place in their last tournament in Las Vegas, the 12th place finish this week was unsatisfactory for the team, head coach Jim Bracken said.

“It’s very disappointing,” Bracken said. “This is our home course. Our (player’s) should be very comfortable out there. They have tons of experience out there?there’s no excuses.”

Although Bracken wasn’t happy with the poor finish, he remains confident in his players and he believes they’ll bounce back to play better golf the next time out.

“I really did not think these guys were capable of shooting the scores that they shot (in the final round), but that’s golf,” Bracken said. “I know the way these guys are capable of performing. They got too much talent. We’ll regroup and go from there.”

The tournament is in its 11th straight year, having started back in 1996 as the Wood Ranch Invitational. The name was changed to the Bill Cullum Invitational in 2003, naming it after former Matador golf coach Bill Cullum. Although the host Matadors have never won their own tournament, Bracken said it’s a very successful event and has been every year since its inauguration.

“All the other schools enjoy playing here,” Bracken said. “They always complement the tournament and it’s a great facility.”

The Matadors will next play at the Santa Clara Invitational on Oct. 22-23.

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