CHICO, Calif. – After turning in a pair of excellent rounds on Day 1 of the Chico State Invitational, Montana State University Billings men's golf freshman Austin Berg finished strong in the final round of the tournament Tuesday to take fourth place and help his team to a fourth-place finish at Butte Creek Country Club.
 
Berg held a 3-under par score of 141 (69-72) after Day 1 of the event, and finished with a 73 in the final round to bring his total to 214. Berg's 12 birdies were the second-most by an individual in the tournament. "Austin had an exceptional tournament," said MSUB head coach Shawn O'Brien. "Any time a freshman can step up and post good scores like he did this week, it is going to help our team performance."
 
The effort helped MSUB to a top-5 finish among the field of 15 teams, as the 'Jackets finished with a team score of 895 (293-296-306). "Although we did not play our best golf today, I'm proud of our overall performance," said O'Brien. "Our goal was to get as many head-to-head victories against regional opponents as possible and by finishing in fourth place we accomplished that goal."
 
Senior Jake Hedge tied for 12th place in the tournament, firing a 221 (75-71-75) over his three rounds. Austin Westphal finished tied for 30th, shooting a three-round total of 229 (75-74-80) for the 'Jackets.
 
Ten strokes behind Westphal was Gage Huft, who carded a 239 (74-83-82) on the tournament, and Tanner Berg recovered after withdrawing from the first round to shoot scores of 79 and 78 in his final two rounds of play.
 
Winning medalist honors was Adam Stone of Cal State East Bay, who stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a tournament-low round of 66 on the final day. Stone finished with a score of 206 (71-69-66), winning the title by three strokes over Day 1 leader Alistair Docherty of Chico State (209, 71-68-70).
 
Dochtery's teammate Justin Wiles was the only other player ahead of Austin Berg, with a 213 (75-68-70), as Chico State captured the team title with a three-round score of 865 (297-284-284) at the 6,990-yard, par-72 course.
 
Dixie State finished in second place with a team score of 875 (293-293-289), and Sonoma State was third with a mark of 882 (295-293-294).