The UCSD men’s golf team is a part of one of the toughest regions in the nation, playing with three of the country’s top five Division II golf teams. The Tritons knew they would need a strong showing at the NCAA Division II Men’s West Regional to advance to the nationals.
A slow start in the three-day tournament, which ended May 8, relegated UCSD to seventh place in Goodyear, Ariz., where UC Davis led the field of eight teams and took home the championship.
The Tritons fell behind early in the first round. The lowest of the five scores posted by UCSD was an even-par 72 by Brian Duckworth, and the Tritons had a team total 304. This left them 20 strokes behind the leader, in eighth place, and forced to claw their way up the standings to make a respectable finish.
In the second round, the Tritons shot 302 and moved up to seventh place. On the second day of the tournament, UCSD didn’t have anyone shoot par or better, and Duckworth again led the team, this time with a 73.
The Tritons broke 300 in the final round, closing the tournament with a score of 292. Despite finishing well, UCSD hoped to be more successful.
“”We were disappointed. We didn’t compete with the top guys like we wanted,”” Duckworth said. “”Those teams with more experience go off to a good start. We did well in the last round, but we got off to a bad start.””
Davis shot scores of 284, 289 and 283 to earn a total of 856, and it finished 42 strokes better than UCSD. Cal State Stanislaus, which took second place, ended nine strokes behind Davis with a combined score of 865. Rounding out the top five teams were Cal State Bakersfield, Western Washington University and Chico State.
Individually, Mark Lawless of Stanislaus shot scores of 70, 69 and 72. He was five under par in his three rounds and led the tournament by two strokes. Davis’ Jason Boyd finished in second with scores of 69, 73 and 71, and both Josh Immordino of Western Washington and Jay Westerlund of Davis finished a stroke behind Boyd to tie for third place. Grand Canyon’s Tommy Medina and Davis’ Scott Gordon tied with scores of 215 to complete the top five positions.
Duckworth’s score of 219 led the Tritons, and he finished the tournament tied for 14th with Jamie Kum of Western Washington and Eric Restrepo of Davis. Alan Scheer had scores of 73, 75 and 73 to place him in a tie for 18th with Kevin Klebe of Cal State Bakersfield, Western New Mexico’s Anders Magnusson and Todd Halpen. Tritons Ryan Gale, Greg Wilson and Eugene Itkin finished in 32nd, 43rd and 44th, respectively.
The top individual finisher at the regionals from a team that did not qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships earned an automatic bid to the nationals. Chico State’s J.J. Jakovac, who finished just one stroke ahead of Duckworth, earned the trip to the next stage.
UCSD head coach Mike Wydra and his team hope that Duckworth and Gale, who have been solid throughout the season, will earn an at-large bid from the NCAA selection committee. The NCAA Division II Championships will take place May 21 through May 24 at the Mission Inn Resort in Orlando, Fla.
