FRESNO, Calif. — Luke Dugger continued his streak of under-par rounds with a 68 during the final round of the Nick Watney Invitational on Tuesday at Sunnyside CC. Dugger finished the three-round tournament tied for seventh place at 7-under par and has now shot below par in five consecutive rounds and seven of the last nine.
 
Sacramento State moved up one spot in the team standings and tied for sixth place with a three-round total of 283-287-282-852. The Hornets were 23 strokes back of host Fresno State and San Diego which tied for the team title. Sacramento State also placed third among the five Big West men's golf programs in the field.
 
Dugger had a strong start to his round, posting five birdies on his first nine holes. The graduate student began the day with three pars and then caught fire with birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13. His first bogey of the day was on the par-4 16^th and he later added a bogey on the par-4 third. In 21 rounds this season, Dugger is averaging 70.19 stokes per round and is an aggregate 20-under par.
 
Jake Aberle and Max Thomas each shot even-par rounds of 71 on Tuesday and tied for 29^th overall in the tournament with totals of 216. Aberle overcame two early bogeys to play his final 14 holes at 2-under with the help of three birdies. Thomas had three birdies and three bogeys over his first seven holes before ending with 11 consecutive pars.
 
Zach Mate shot 72 in the final round and tied for 33^rd overall. Mate began with nine pars and then dropped to 1-under with a birdie on the par-4 16^th. After five more pars his only bogeys on the day came on the par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth.
 
Gabe Smith matched Mate's overall finish following a 1-over par round of 73 on Tuesday. Smith had three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.
 
Sacramento State will have nearly a month away from action before competing at the UC San Diego Invitational at Torrey Pines GC on Mar. 23-25.
 
 
NICK WATNEY INVITATIONAL
Fresno, Calif. | Sunnyside CC
Par 71 | 6,938 Yards
 
Team Standings
T1. Fresno State 278-275-276-829
T1. San Diego 279-274-276-829
3. Santa Clara 276-282-277-835
4. Cal Poly 278-281-288-847
5. UC San Diego 286-285-279-850
T6. Sacramento State 283-287-282-852
T6. Pacific 277-278-294
8. San Francisco 279-285-289-853
9. Utah Valley 284-291-286-861
10. Idaho 284-298-293-875
11. Air Force 2998-287-296-881
12. Southern Utah 292-295-299-886
13. CSUN 285-302-300-887
 
Individual Top Five
1. Carlos Astiazaran, PAC, 66-67-70-203
T2. Jaden Cantagio, USD, 69-68-67-204
T2. James Watney, FS, 68-68-68-204
T4. Matt Robles, SCU, 67-71-67-205
T4. Renato Naula, USF, 68-67-70-205
T4. Nathan Tseng, UCSD, 66-71-68-205
 
Sacramento State Scores
T7. Luke Dugger 69-69-68-206
T29. Max Thomas 71-74-71-216
T29. Jake Aberle 72-73-71-216
T33. Gabe Smith 71-73-73-217
T33. Zach Mate 73-72-72-217
T53. Zach Matzke 78-69-76-223
T75. Patrick Dumag 75-76-80-231