The UCSD golf team competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship on April 21 and April 22 at the Diablo Grande Golf Course in Patterson, Calif.
The tournament was held on the Ranch course instead of the Legend course for the first time this year. The Ranch is the harder of the two courses, which head coach Mike Wydra noted as the reason why scores of all the teams involved in the tourney were higher than usual.
“”Weather was also an issue, we had rain and the wind was blowing in the wrong direction,”” Wydra said.
The Tritons took fifth place in the tournament with a total score of 946, 82-over-par. While they struggled with a first-round score of 322, they came back to shoot 313 and 311 for the last two rounds.
CSU Bakersfield took first place for the event, shooting a score of 902, 38-over-par, with rounds of 296, 307 and 299. CSU Stanislaus came in second with rounds of 308, 301 and 302 for a total of 911, 47-over.
Chico State followed in third, shooting 306, 301 and 307 for a final score of 914. UC Davis finished in fourth place with a total of 917, 53-over, shooting rounds of 304, 308 and 305.
CSU San Bernardino came in sixth place, shooting rounds of 319, 318 and 321 for a final score of 958, 94-over. Grand Canyon came in seventh with rounds of 316, 329 and 318, giving them a total of 963, 99-over-par. CSU Dominguez Hills rounded out the eight teams with a score of 1,006, 142-over-par.
Individually the Tritons were led by junior Alan Scheer, whose score of 230 (14-over-par) gave him a 12th-place finish.
“”Alan played great, he was only two strokes short of All-District team,”” Wydra said.
Coming in second for UCSD was sophomore Joe Dolby, whose score of 238, 18-over-par, put him in a tie for 17th place.
“”Joe’s [74 in the second round] was one stroke short of the low score for the second round,”” Wydra said.
Freshman Robbie Kramer finished in third for the Tritons, shooting a 24-over 240, ending up in 24th place. Fellow freshman Justin Grant took fourth for UCSD, tying for 28th place with a 246. Senior Blake Schneider rounded out the Triton’s squad, tying for 30th in the tournament with a score of 249, 33-over-par.
UCSD’s next tournament will take place in Littleton, Colo., at the Meadows Golf Course, where it will compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Super Regional from May 5 through May 7.
“”We have never played that course before, but when you play at high altitude … the ball goes about 15 percent further,”” Wydra said. “”Teams that travel a lot will have an advantage, but we’re trying to find our top five players, and should have a strong showing.””
