DANA POINT, Calif. — Gabriel Smith shot 69 and Luke Dugger added a round of 69 to lead the Sacramento State men's golf team during the final round of the Varharte Orange County Collegiate on Tuesday at Monarch Beach Golf Links.

The Hornets were 2-over par as a team during the final round and tied for fifth place with a three-round total of 277-294-282-853. Host Cal State Fullerton led a trio of Southern California schools on the leaderboard. The Titans finished at 17-under par to win the title by five strokes over CSUN. UC Irvine was third at 11-under par.

Smith overcame a slow start which saw him 3-over par through three holes to finish the round at 2-under. His first birdie came on the par-3 17th and he added birdies on the par-4 third and par-5 seventh to get to even on the day. Smith continued his run with a birdie on the par-5 ninth and followed with a birdie on the par-4 10th before closing with two pars. The sophomore now has eight rounds of par or better in his 18 rounds played this season. He finished the tournament tied for 37th place at 69-80-68-217.

Dugger had the top overall finish among the Hornets as he tied for 22nd at 69-74-69-212. On Tuesday, Dugger started with a par on the 12th hole and then bogeyed the par-3 13th. Six consecutive pars came before back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to get him to 1-under. Dugger traded pars and bogeys on the next four holes to leave him at 1-over before he birdied the par-4 eighth and ended with a birdie on the par-4 11th.

Zach Mate shot 71 in the final round and tied for 44th in the tournament. Mate was 2-over through four holes but fell back to even with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. He had one birdie and one bogey over the next nine holes before a bogey on the par-4 eighth left him 1-over for the round.

Jeffrey Perry completed the team score with a 2-over par round of 74. Perry had two birdies and six bogeys during the round. He tied for 34th with rounds of 69-73-74-216.

Sacramento State will next compete at the Wyoming Match Play at Indian Wells Golf Resort on Feb. 19-20.

VARHARTE ORANGE COUNTRY COLLEGIATE
Dana Point, Calif. | Monarch Beach GL
Par 70 | 6,645 Yards

Team Standings
1. Cal State Fullerton 277-272-276-825
2. CSUN 273-275-280-828
3. UC Irvine 279-275-275-829
4. Gonzaga 283-294-274-851
5. Sacramento State 277-294-283-854
6. British Columbia 280-275-299-854
7. California Baptist 289-276-296-861
8. UC San Diego 292-287-286-865
9. St. John's 289-280-300-869
10. UC Riverside 296-294-285-875

Individual Top Five
1. Felix Schrott, CSUN, 64-67-67-198
2. Davis McDowell, UCSD, 67-65-68-200
T3. Russel Howlett, CSF, 70-67-67-204
T3. Rei Harashima, UCI, 67-68-69-204
5. Nathan Tseng, UCSD, 67-73-65-205

Sacramento State Scores
T22. Luke Dugger 69-74-69-212
T34. Jeffrey Perry 69-73-74-216
T37. Gabriel Smith 69-80-68-217
T40. Jake Aberle 70-74-75-219
T44. Zach Mate 76-73-71-220