The UCSD golf team finished second out of 10 teams last week at the Skyhawk Classic Club Shootout held in Palm Springs, Calif. and hosted by Fort Lewis College. After three rounds of play, the Tritons finished with a combined score of 327 during the two-day tournament held April 8 and 9.
UCSD finished two points ahead of third place Colorado Mesa University (325) and eight points behind South Mountain Community College (319). California Collegiate Athletics Association members Cal State San Bernardino finished in sixth and Cal State Dominguez Hills finished last, in 10th place.
“Every round we did alright, but we had a few players that could have done better,” sophomore Jay Lim said. “It was just a different type of course. The wind was distracting, and I don’t think we were really used to it. But I feel like if it wasn’t gusting in the practice round, I think we may have had a good chance to win it.”
On the 216-par course, UCSD had two performers finish 18 over par. Junior Lewis Simon and freshman Clayton Yamaguchi both finished with scores of 234, tied for fifth place overall.
Sophomore Jay Lim finished 11th overall (236), while freshman Daniel Yang tied for 23rd and junior Ryan Rankin tied for 33rd.
UCSD also took second in the tournament last season, before placing 11th out of 20 teams in the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational. The Tritons then rebounded to place third at the CCAA Championships and earned their first ticket to the NCAA Division-II Regionals since 2007.
Similarly, this season, UCSD will now head up to Stanislaus, Calif. to take part in the Hanny Invitational this weekend, April 15 to April 16. The meet will serve as a precursor to the conference championships to take place the following week. Eight of the 10 CCAA teams will make the trip up to Stanislaus: Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State East Bay, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Sonoma State and UCSD.
“I definitely think the Stanislaus tournament will be very important, and it’s just good for us to be facing so many good teams,” Lim said. “And I think we’re right in there for the conference tournament and then for getting into regionals.”
