Fort Lewis College Athletics

Preston Ross at the San Juan Intercollegiate

Hayden Mangan, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Preston Ross watches his tee shot with an iron during the San Juan Intercollegiate at The Bridges Golf & Country Club (Sept. 21, 2026)

Ross earns T-9 finish; Skyhawks men eighth at The Hrnciar

10/6/2026 1:17:00 PM

By: Hayden Mangan, Assistant AD-Communications & Fan Engagement

DUNCAN, Okla. – Freshman Preston Ross continued his red-hot start to his collegiate career as he captured a T-9 finish as an individual on the strength of a 212 (-4), while the Fort Lewis men's golf team took eighth as a team on Tuesday afternoon at The Hrnciar.

Ross carded 13 birdies overall, the second-most among Skyhawks, and conceded just eight bogeys or worse through his three rounds across the 6,800-yard, par 72 Territory Golf Club. Ross' T-9 finish comes after a third-round 71 (-1) and just two weeks after he nabbed T-17 in his collegiate debut at the San Juan Intercollegiate (Sept. 21-22). Fellow freshman Mateo Berastegui was the only other top-25 finisher for Fort Lewis, taking T-18 with an even par of 216 for the tournament following a third-round 74 (+2).

Fort Lewis fell two spots on the final day of action to take eighth place among the 15 teams, with an overall team score of an even par of 864. The Skyhawks scored the third-most birdies overall with 51 in total, but also surrendered the fourth-most bogeys (52) and seventh-most double bogeys or worse (7). FLC edged ninth-place Lubbock Christian University by four strokes (868, +4) and was one of eight teams at or below par.

Despite nearly all teams struggling on the final day of action, and 11 of the 15 teams shooting above par, Pittsburg State University managed to shoot one-under-par (287) and claim team medalist honors on an 845 (-19) with a six-stroke lead. The Gorilla's own Tyler Hardtarfer tied Colorado School of Mines' Liam Allen for individual medalist honors at 207 (-9).

Junior Talan Gover managed to find three birdies down the back nine to turn in a 78 (+6), dropping him to 220 (+4) overall and a T-42 finish. Sophomore Chase Rogers vaulted 11 spots up the leaderboard behind Gover, bouncing back with a 73 (+1) to grab T-47. Rogers owned one of only nine eagles in the tournament. Freshman Johnathon Smith rounded out Fort Lewis in T-66 and 226 (+10) overall after shooting a third-round 82 (+10).

Up Next
The Skyhawks will head south yet again next Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 12-13, as they head for Amarillo, Texas, and the Amarillo Country Club to take on the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational, hosted by West Texas A&M University.

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