Alex Franklin Notches Top-10 Finish
PULLMAN, Wash. – Senior Alex Franklin notched the fourth top-10 finish of his Oregon State men’s golf career to help the Beavers finish in seventh place at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate on Tuesday.
Franklin persevered through windy and cold conditions to card a 3-over 73 in the final round of the two-day, 54-hole tournament and finish in a tie for seventh place in the 75-player field with a 2-under 67-68-73--208. It’s his second top-10 finish in three events this fall and fourth overall after recording two last season.
As a team, Oregon State moved up a spot after Monday’s 36 holes to finish in seventh place with an 8-over 284-273-291--848 at Washington State’s par-70, 7,308-yard Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Oregon and USC were tied through 54 holes, but the Ducks took home the team title by winning the first playoff hole.
“As expected the course played much tougher today with the wind gusting well over 20 miles per hour,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “As a team, I thought we did a really good job of handling the conditions. Unfortunately, we made a couple of mistakes toward the end of the round. But the rounds by Tyler and Jonas were very good.”
| 7 | Oregon State | 284 | 273 | 291 | 848 |
| T7 | Alex Franklin (3) | 67 | 68 | 73 | 208 |
| T19 | Tyler Carlson (5) | 70 | 69 | 72 | 211 |
| T30 | Jonas Liebich (4) | 73 | 69 | 72 | 214 |
| T39 | Tyler Collier (2) | 74 | 67 | 75 | 216 |
| T47 | Conner Kumpula (1) | 75 | 70 | 74 | 219 |
Junior Tyler Carlson and freshman Jonas Liebich both shot a 2-over 72 in the final round with each of them dropping two birdies, two bogeys and a double. Carlson finished in a tie for 19th place, to equal his best career finish as a Beaver, with a 1-over 70-69-72--211, while Liebich moved up 13 spots into a tie for 30th place with a 4-over 73-69-72--214.
With winds blowing as hard as 20-25 miles per hour, Franklin still carded four birdies and had nothing worse than a bogey to fire a 73 on a day only two players shot a sub-par round. Franklin finished in a tie for ninth at the fall’s first event, Golfweek’s Conference Challenge, and had finishes of tied for seventh (Husky Invitational) and seventh (Mark Simpson Invitational) in his first two tournaments a year ago after transferring to Oregon State.
Freshman Tyler Collier shot a 6-over 74-67-75--216 to finish in a tie for 39th and sophomore Conner Kumpula, who returned to the lineup after missing the Husky Invitational with an injury, posted a 9-over 75-70-74--219 for a tie for 47th place.
Four Oregon State players participated as individuals and their results are: t23. Kevin Murphy 71-70-71--212 (+2); t42. Scott Kim 72-72-73--217 (+7); t55. Brian Jung 74-69-77--220 (+10); t55. Chris Tedesco 70-70-80--220 (+10).
The Beavers have two weeks off before competing in the fourth and final tournament of the fall season, the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Sonoma, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 13 and Tuesday, Oct. 14.
“We’ve got 10 days at home now to work on a few things and get ready for the Meadow Club,” Reehoorn said. “Meadow Club is Alex’s home course so it will be fun to head there and see how the team can do on a course we have historically played well.”
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