With its eye on the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship tournament just a week away, the UCSD golf team used the Cal State Stanislaus Buzzini Invitational on Monday and Tuesday to warm up for the championships.
Cal State Stanislaus took thorough advantage of its home turf, setting a new tournament record with a three-round total of 869 en route to its seventh-straight Buzzini Invitational victory. The Warriors finished 26 better than Chico State University, which took second place.
Chico State edged UC Davis, which lost to the Wildcats by just one stroke to finish third. Rounding out the top five positions were Western Washington University and Cal State Monterey Bay, who took fourth and fifth place, respectively.
UCSD used a strong final round to end in sixth place in the tournament. After opening the event with a 303, the Tritons fell out of contention with a score of 314 in the second round. However, going into the final round on Tuesday, the Tritons were seeking a strong finish. UCSD responded with a confidence-building, tournament-ending score of 293, the third-best score of the 13-team field in the final round.
“”We played well in the final round, and it shows that we can hit a low score,”” said Ryan Gale. “”It shows we can play with everyone else.””
Chico State’s J.J. Jakovac won the individual championship, finishing with a combined score of 215, just two away from the tournament record.
Three golfers trailed Jakovac by one stroke, and Jason Boyd of Davis, Lindsay Bernakevitch of Western Washington, and Stan Mathews of Stanislaus all tied for second place with a final score of 216.
Sophomore Brian Duckworth had the top score for UCSD, firing a 223 to put him in a tie for 12th place with Chico State’s Brian Benedictson and Matt Higley of Cal State San Marcos. Gale, who has been consistent all year for the Tritons, finished two strokes behind Duckworth and in a tie for 16th place along with Andy Barnum of Chico State.
Triton sophomore Greg Wilson finished the tournament with a 230, which placed him in a tie for 25th. As for the rest of the Tritons participating in the event, sophomore Alan Scheer ended tied for 32nd place, and junior David Hansen finished in 66th place.
UCSD head coach Mike Wydra and his players have just a couple of days before the Tritons play a practice round Sunday at the Diablo Country Club in Diablo, Calif., the site of this year’s CCAA Championships. The tournament will officially begin Monday.
