Griffin Leads Texas Tech Out West

Thursday, March 27

Santa Cruz, Calif.

All Day

Texas Tech Athletics

Western Intercollegiate

March 27, 2008 | Men's Golf

March 27, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Sophomore Will Griffin fired a three-round 221 to finish in a 10th-place tie at the Western Intercollegiate on Thursday, and was one of two Red Raiders to complete the event among the top 20. The 54-hole tournament was played at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., Wednesday and today.

Griffin entered the final round tied for 10th, but a final-round 75 couldn't move him any further up the leaderboard. After carding a 71 Wednesday, junior Garrett Merrell followed with a 76 today and finished one shot back of Griffin in 14th place. Junior Santiago Rivas and freshman Sergio Franky tied for 33rd and 41st places, respectively, shooting three-round totals of 227 and 229. Sophomore Matt Smith struggled throughout the event with a 233.

Texas Tech suffered one of its more disappointing tournaments of the season after having claimed top five finishes in two of three spring events. The highest ranked team in the event at No. 23, the Red Raiders finished sixth, but within 15 shots of tournament champion No. 50 Saint Mary's. No. 25 Michigan State and UC Irvine tied in second place, one stroke behind Saint Mary's. The Spartans, who led after two rounds, opened the door for Saint Mary's in the final round after shooting the second-worst team round of the event with a 314.

California (886) and Northwestern (893) finished fourth and fifth, followed by Texas Tech. Colorado (898), UC Santa Barbara (900), Missouri (904) and Nevada (905) round out the top 10. Santa Clara (907), San Jose State (912), Fresno State (913), Hawaii (915), Long Beach State (922) and Columbia (926) complete the field.

Texas Tech next competes at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin on April 7-8 as the final tune-up for the Big 12 Championships, which are scheduled for April 25-27 at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Trinity, Texas.