By Andrew Hartley(@andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
Caleb Shetler tees off to begin the next course. Photo courtesy of SJSU Athletics
Junior Zubair Firdaus accepted SJSU’s third-place silver tray Friday as their season kicked off at the Pan-Pacific Collegiate Championship in Japan. This is the second consecutive year the team has finished in third or better in the season opener.
Carl Corpus led off his senior season finishing ninth individually, and shot five-under-par for the tournament. He posted 65 on Wednesday, which would go on to be the lowest round posted by a Spartan.
“We had some phenomenal golf played by each and every one of the Spartans this week,” said SJSU head coach John Kennaday. And they did.
Caleb Shetler and Corpus both finished shooting par or under leading the Spartans under their veteran leadership.
Sophomore Avinash Iyer got the first crack at filling the hole left by graduating Kotaro Murata and excelled.
Each day, Iyer shot a better score, completing Friday with an even-par, and shot just five-over-par for the tournament. That score tied him with teammate Firdaus for 30th in the individual competition.
Kennaday also acknowledged the opportunity to play against some of the best international teams: “We are truly blessed with the opportunity to travel abroad.”
The field involved 12 teams from Japan, a team from China, a team from Thailand, and a Korean mixed team. Hawaii Pacific University and SJSU were the only teams participating from the United States.
Yuta Sugiura, ranked 11th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, took home the individual title. His school, Nihon University, also took home the team win.
Kennaday’s program comes into the season on a slow upward trajectory finishing last year with their placement in the Mountain West tournament. SJSU also had four of the five golfers from that team take the green in Japan this week.
The Spartans will return to the United States to tee off on September 18, in Bremerton, Washington for the Husky Invitational.