By Wade Denniston

The Utah State golf team placed a disappointing 19th in the 19-team Spalding/Anteater Invitational on March 29-30 at the Coto de Caza North Golf Club in Irvine, Calif.

"It was bad," said junior golfer Mitch Harris of the Aggies' finish. "Even though it's a really tough course, four of the five (team members) have played there before."

Stanford claimed the team title in the three-round tournament with a score of 883.

Long Beach State placed second at 902, San Jose State and Colorado tied for third at 905, while North Texas and host UC Irvine tied for fifth at 907.

"This is the toughest field we'll see all year, but we still shouldn't have finished last," Harris said.

Aggie head coach Dan Roskelley agreed, but also said his team lacked preparedness.

"We just weren't ready," he said. "We haven't played much (because of the weather), so we can't compete with those California teams.

Mike Haws was the top finisher for the Aggies, tying for 54th place at 234, with rounds of 80, 72 and 82.

Stanford's Joel Kribel, ranked No. 8 in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Rankings, won medalist honors with a 6-under par 210 which included rounds of 70, 71 and 69. He was the only golfer in the field to break par on the course.

While Kribel was leading the 27th-ranked Cardinals to victory, the toughness of the course seemed to give the Aggies fits.

"(Coto de Caza) is a tight course with lots of trees," Harris said. "If you miss the fairway, you're in the trees. The greens had lots of tiers. You had to hit at the pin and the putting was fairly difficult."

"It's just a good, tough golf course," added Roskelley. "Coto de Caza must translate to 'many lost golf balls.'"

Other scoring for the Aggies included Chris Moody who tied for 82nd at 240, Kevin lifestyles who tied for 87th at 241 and Casey Beck in a tie for 98th at 249.

USU will next see action at the Cougar Classic April 23-24 in Provo.