PALM DESERT, Calif. -- The Saint Mary's men's golf team rebounded from a tough second round to post one of the top final team scores of the day and finished fourth at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at Classic Club.

The Gaels registered a three-round total of 3-under par 861 to finish fourth in the 24-team field in their opening event of the spring season.  UNLV earned the team championship with a 20-under par 844, while Texas Tech finished second at 13-under and Auburn was third.

Saint Mary's shot rounds of 284-294-283 in the two-day tournament.

"I'm pleased with our result considering the quality of the field," said head coach Scott Hardy.  "We finished ahead of Texas A&M, Kent State and Baylor, which are all top-30 teams, and Golfweek rated this field as one of the top five among all tournaments in the country fhis season.  Jonathan had his best tournament as a Gael Mac and Ben are a solid one-two punch.  We also really showed maturity in bouncing back from our poor second round.  I'm encouraged with our start and look for bigger things to come this spring."

Individually, junior Mac McClung and freshman Jonathan De Los Reyes tied for eighth in the 120-player field.  McClung shot 71-72-70 for a 3-under par 213, while De Los Reyes carded rounds of 70-73-70 on the par 72, 7,305-yard course.

Junior Ben Geyer finished in a tie for 13th after shooting one of the best rounds of the day with a 3-under 69 in today's final round.  He shot 70-75-69 for the three rounds for a 2-under 214.

Sophomore Nick Sako finished tied for 52nd overall with rounds of 73-74-75 for a 6-over par 222.  Senior Eric Grimberg rebounded for two tough opening rounds to finish the tournament with a final round 74 and finished tied for 83rd overall at 228.

The Gaels return to action on Monday, March 12 at The Farms Intercollegiate in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
Classic Club, Palm Desert, Calif.
Par 72, 7305 yards

Fin.  Team                             Scores         Total    Par
   1  UNLV...........................  279  283  282    844    -20
   2  Texas Tech.....................  287  281  283    851    -13
   3  Auburn.........................  280  291  284    855     -9
   4  Saint Mary's (CA)..............  284  294  283    861     -3
t  5  SMU............................  291  287  284    862     -2
t  5  Texas A&M......................  287  294  281    862     -2
   7  Texas-Arlington................  285  287  291    863     -1
   8  Kent State.....................  282  292  290    864      E
   9  Houston........................  295  285  287    867     +3
  10  Baylor.........................  289  288  292    869     +5
  11  Arizona........................  304  284  290    878    +14
  12  Iowa State.....................  293  292  300    885    +21
t 13  Colorado.......................  299  297  291    887    +23
t 13  Denver.........................  294  294  299    887    +23
  15  UC Riverside...................  301  296  293    890    +26
  16  San Francisco..................  292  291  308    891    +27
  17  Southern Utah..................  300  299  295    894    +30
  18  Cal Poly.......................  307  296  294    897    +33
  19  Idaho..........................  297  297  304    898    +34
  20  Santa Clara....................  301  297  306    904    +40
  21  Nebraska.......................  305  307  298    910    +46
  22  Wyoming........................  310  303  299    912    +48
  23  Hawai'i........................  304  307  304    915    +51
  24  Texas-El Paso..................  315  307  307    929    +65

Fin.  Player                   Scores        Total    Par
t  8  J. De Los Reyes......    70   73   70    213     -3
t  8  Mac McClung..........    71   72   70    213     -3
t 13  Ben Geyer............    70   75   69    214     -2
t 52  Nick Sako............    73   74   75    222     +6
t 83  Eric Grimberg........    78   76   74    228    +12