His Bulldog coach was his uncle, Mike Watney.
Nearly 25 years later another Watney is teeing it up for the men's golf team; Mike's grandson, James Watney.
The Buchanan grad came into the final round of the Nick Watney Invitational in a tie for fourth place.
The sophomore was one back with two to play and thanks to a sand save on 17, one back standing on the final tee box.
Watney just missed a closing birdie to finish in a tie for 2nd at -9, one shot behind medalist Carlos Astiazaran (-10) a sophomore at Pacific.
MEET THE BULLDOG: Jake Bettencourt
As a team, the Bulldogs finished in a tie with San Diego at -23, a Torero team that had won two of its last three tournaments.
The playoff featured all five of the team's players to play the 18th hole.
The teams then took the lowest four scores out of the five players.
Fresno State was -3 while the University of San Diego was -2, meaning the Bulldogs won their home event for the first time since 2002, back when head coach Chad Spencer played for the 'Dogs.
"Means a ton," Spencer said after the win.
"I think it's going to give us a ton of momentum for the rest of the season."
FINAL RESULTS:
Fresno State:
- t2. James Watney (-9) 68, 68, 68
- t7. Joseph Lloyd (-7) 70, 67, 69
- t11. Mason Benbrook (-4) 69, 67, 73 (individual)
- t14. Jaden Hunter (-3) 71, 71, 68
- t24. Chris Bettencourt (+1) 69, 69, 76
- t29. Ryan Firpo (+3) 71, 74, 71
Next up is the Lamkin Tournament hosted by San Diego State on March 10th.
That's one of three tournaments the Dogs will play before the Mountain West Championship at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon on April 25th.
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