UCSD golf traveled to Bakersfield to take part in the Family Motors Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. In their third tournament of the season, the Tritons finished tied for seventh in the 15-team field.

The Tritons started slowly. They were one of six teams that failed to break 300 in the first round. Scoring 301 in the first round of the tournament placed UCSD ninth — 21 strokes behind the leading Chico State squad.

The Tritons improved by five strokes after their second round, shooting a 296 for the sixth-best score on Monday. UCSD tallied 296 again Tuesday to finish the tournament with an overall score of 893.

Cal State Bakersfield won the tournament. Bakersfield’s combined score of 855 edged Chico State, which finished in second place and shot 865. Rounding out the top three spots in the tournament were Loyola Marymount and St. Martin’s College, which both shot 877.

The No. 1-ranked Roadrunners battled back from a 10-stroke deficit after the first round. Bakersfield turned in a near-record 279 in its afternoon round Monday. The score is second only to the 274 that Bakersfield produced in the 2000 Family Motors Invitational.

In another record-setting event, Loyola Marymount’s Mike Farrell aced the 219-yard eighth hole to record the first hole-in-one in the tournament’s five-year history. Simon Fraser University’s Ryan Roe later hit a hole-in-one on the same hole.

UCSD’s top finisher was sophomore Alan Scheer, who ended in a tie for 17th place with St. Marys’ Garret Deal. On the par-72 course at Seven Oaks Country Club, Scheer opened the tournament with a 68 on Monday and found himself trailing the tournament leader by just one stroke. Scheer finished with a 74 and a 77 to give him an overall score of 219 — three over par.

Sophomore Brian Duckworth had an overall score of 222, which put him in a three-way tie for 25th place. John Ochoa of Cal State San Marcos and Joe Lanza of St. Mary’s also shot six-over-par 222s.

UCSD juniors Andy Thomson and Ryan Gale, as well as sophomore Galen Farris, completed the group of five Triton golfers. They finished in 39th, 47th and 67th respectively.

J.J. Jakovac of Chico State had the lowest individual combined score of 210 — six strokes under par. Bakersfield’s Dan Warburton and Ron Killmer, Point Loma’s Josh Colace, and Simon Fraser’s John Sinn were all part of a group that finished two strokes behind Jakovac in second place.

UCSD will travel to the San Luis Rey Downs Golf Course to participate in the Cal State San Marcos Invitational on March 4.