The Marquette men’s golf team will compete in its first event since March when it travels to California for the El Macero Classic, hosted by California-Davis.
Marquette is one of nine schools competing in the El Macero Classic and the only school not in the Pacific time zone. Reigning champions UC-Davis, as well as top finishers California State-Fullerton, Grand Canyon and Nevada will also be competing in the event.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a seventh place finish at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, hosted by Michigan during spring break. In that event, Marquette was led by junior Zach Gaugert, who played the best tournament of his collegiate career. Gaugert set a personal record for highest finish by placing 12th with a 219, the second lowest score of his career. His personal 219 was the best of any competitor at the event and he also tied the third-highest birdie total with 13 during the tournament.
The Golden Eagles are led by a trio of juniors in Pat Sanchez, Nick Nelson and CJ Swift. Swift and Sanchez were named to the 2014 All-Big East team and are poised to gain the nomination once again.
Swift finished with a tie for 17th in the 2014 edition of the tournament, shooting a 223, which he matched at this season’s Bridgestone Golf Collegiate. Sanchez was named the Big East golfer of the month in September for his stellar play in the fall. He also competed internationally for his home country of Mexico in the Latin America Amateur Championships, where the winner received an invitation to the 2015 Masters. After making the second cut, Sanchez finished the event in 57th place. Nelson had a prolific start to the season with four consecutive top-20 individual finishes in the fall semester
Nelson, Swift and Sanchez were the top three scorers for the Marquette team in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, shooting three-round scores of 221, 227 and 231. The other two competitors, senior Brandon Cloete and freshman Trevor Thomas, both shot a 232.
Marquette is aiming to do better than its 2014 finish of eighth place when the Golden Eagles shot a combined 897. The El Macero Classic starts Friday and continues through Sunday. Marquette will then have one more event before the Big East Championships.
