The UCSD golf team competed with 11 other teams in the Cal State San Bernardino Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. Chico State won the tournament, while the Tritons finished in a tie for seventh place.
At the par-72 Professional Golf Association of Southern California Golf Course in Beaumont, Calif., most teams struggled in Monday’s first round.
“”This is a course that the Senior PGA uses in its qualifying rounds,”” explained UCSD head coach Mike Wydra. “”The course is so difficult, and on Monday, winds reached speeds of 40 mph.””
After the first round, Master’s College led the tournament with a combined score of 306, an unusually high score for a leader in a collegiate tournament. Among the 60 golfers in the entire field, no one shot better than a 74.
Players adjusted to the course, and most scored lower in later rounds. Throughout the tournament, only six scores were below par.
Chico State shot 320 in the early round on Monday, but it came back and broke 300 in each of the next two rounds for a combined score of 903. Four of the five Wildcat participants finished in the top 10, individually. Chico’s J.J. Jakovac shot 79, 72 and 72 for a score of 223 to land first place.
Tying for second place were Western Washington University and Master’s College. Both teams had combined scores of 922, and each finished 19 strokes behind Chico State. Master’s College, which led after the opening round of the tournament, shot 322 in the second round Monday afternoon to fall out of the lead.
The Tritons and St. Martin’s College had combined scores of 943, which landed both teams in seventh place. UCSD shot 324 and 314 on Monday, and the Tritons found themselves in fifth place. The team was close enough to jump into the top three slots with a strong finishing round, but dropped to seventh after shooting 305 to end the tournament.
Individually, Triton junior Ryan Gale finished in a tie for fifth place with Point Loma’s Josh Colace. Gale led the field after two rounds, shooting scores of 74 and 75, but he could not hold onto the lead and ended the tournament with a last-round score of 78.
Junior Andy Thomson tied for 21st place along with Josh Imordino of Western Washington and David Backus of host Cal State San Bernardino. Thomson, who had a total score of 235, had seven birdies in his closing round to finish one under par.
Sophomores Brian Duckworth, Greg Wilson and Nathan White where also among the five Tritons in the tournament. They finished in 39th, 44th and 51st, respectively.
UCSD is beginning to gear up for the home stretch as it approaches some larger tournaments in April.
“”We’re moving things around, finding out who are our top five players,”” Wydra said. “”We have some big tournaments coming up, and we need to start thinking about and getting ready for those.””
