Oct. 12, 2004

SOMIS, Calif. - The University of Houston golf team wrapped up its stay in California with a 12th place finish Tuesday after the final round at The Club Glove Intercollegiate at Saticoy Country Club.

Sophomore Ricky Romano, a 2004 member of the Conference USA All-Freshmen Team, fired a 75 in the final round on the 6,858-yard, par-72 course to move into a tie for 41st place and lead the Cougars.

Other Cougars were Zach Mowbray (229, t-46th), Jordan Irwin (229, t-46th), Pablo Acuna (230, 48th) and Jordan Hasbrouck (236, 57th).

Host Pepperdine fired a team score of 291 in the final round to win the team championship. Coastal Carolina (871), SMU (876), Arizona State (876), Kent State (877), Texas Tech (880), UC Irvine (883), UC Riverside (889), North Carolina State (890), Baylor (898) and UTEP rounded out the Top 11 leaders.

Individually, SMU's Colt Knost posted a score of 68 during the final 18 holes to win medalist honors at 4-under-par 212, two strokes better than Pepperdine's Michael Putnam and Jay Choe of UC Irvine.

The Cougars return to action Monday when they compete at the Louisiana Tech Invitational in Ruston, La.

TEAM RESULTS
1. Pepperdine 289-284-291 -- 864
2. Coastal Carolina 288-291-292 -- 871
3. SMU 288-291-297 -- 876
Arizona State 293-283-300 -- 876
5. Kent State 297-297-283 -- 577
6. Texas Tech 293-298-289 -- 880
7. UC Irvine 286-294-303 -- 883
8. UC Riverside 295-299-295 -- 889
9. North Carolina State 302-295-293 -- 890
10. Baylor 292-303-303 -- 898
Texas-El Paso 294-296-308 -- 898
12. Houston 306-300-305 -- 911

UH LEADERBOARD t-41. Ricky Romano, Houston 76-76-75 - 227
t-46. Jordan Irwin, Houston 76-72-81 - 229
t-46. Zach Mowbray, Houston 77-77-75 - 229
48. Pablo Acuna, Houston 77-75-78 - 230
57. Jordan Hasbrouck, Houston 80-79-77 - 236