SEASIDE, Calif. - On Tuesday, the final round of the Otter Invitational took place at Bayonet Golf Course, as the Cal State East Bay men's golf team placed third among 12 teams in the tournament. 
 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• The third place finish for the Pioneers was led by Melker Backstrom, who finished with a seventh place tie on the leaderboard at 2-under-par 214 (70-73-71). He had four birdies in the final round and had 10 in total throughout the 54 holes played. 
• Easton Hether and Adam Brangefalt finished in a 14th place tie on the leaderboard at 2-over-par 218, each with five birdies on Tuesday.
  • Hether had the most birdies among the Pioneers in the tournament with 14.
  • Brangefalt had a team-leading 38 even par holes throughout the tournament. 
• Aaron Lee had the only eagle for the Pioneers in the tournament. 
• Competing as an individual, Ryan Hong had five birdies as well in the final round.
• The host team, Cal State Monterey Bay won the tournament and Liam Allder was the medalist by winning a playoff against Chico State's Dakota Ochoa. Each finished tied atop the leaderboard at 6-under-par 210 through 54 holes. 

QUOTE

Cal State East Bay men's and women's golf coach Chris Oetinger spoke about the Pioneers' performance in the Otter Invitational:
"Very solid performance from the guys up and down the lineup. We keep putting ourselves in position to win but just haven't put the pieces together to finish off the job. Regardless, a third place finish is impressive considering the youth of our team. Melker's play anchored the team and was the epitome of consistency. I love the mindset this team has and it is refreshing to watch them battle. We will get back to work over the next few days as we have a quick turnaround for Hawaii."
 

UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY

Two tournaments in Hawaii will wrap up the fall 2023 schedule for the Pioneers next week. The first of the two tournaments is the HPU Sharks Shootout which takes place on October 23-24 at Mauna Lani Golf Course in Waimea, Hawaii.