VALENCIA, California - The UC San Diego men's golf team tied for fifth of 12 teams and Davis McDowell placed fourth in the 79-player field Tuesday as the Bill Cullum Invitational concluded.

Both of the finishes were season-bests for the Tritons, who were playing in their third event of the fall.

CSUN hosted the two-day, 54-hole tournament at The Oaks Club at Valencia in Los Angeles County. 

------

HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego finished 34-over par, totaling an 898 on the par-72, 7,115-yard layout to tie with Utah State for the fifth position. The Tritons shot a 298 Tuesday after posting rounds of 295 and 305 Monday. Heading into today's third and final round, they were sixth in the standings.

McDowell, a redshirt freshman playing in his second collegiate tournament, was 1-over par with a 217. He put together rounds of 68, 75, and 74.

McDowell holed 11 birdies over 54 holes - five in the first round, two in the second, and four in the third. He had 31 pars and 12 bogeys. His opening round of 68 had just one bogey, which came on the par-5 14th hole.

All five Tritons that figured in the team's scoring placed inside the top 45. Joining McDowell were senior Ryan Vaughan (tie for 25th, 74-75-77--226), freshman Francis Catalano (tie for 33rd, 77-79-73--229), sophomore Jerry Wu (tie for 38th, 77-79-74--230), and senior Jared Gross (tie for 42nd, 76-76-79--231).

Playing as individuals, sophomores Davis Lee (78-82-77--237) and Akira Isayama (78-79-80--237) tied for 56th, while senior Sergi Mata (77-82-79--238) tied for 59th.

The host Matadors won with a 12-over par 876, 12 strokes better than second-place Utah Valley.

It was CSUN's second time winning its own tournament, also taking the crown in 2008.

Brian Arnold of UC Santa Barbara led wire-to-wire to earn individual medalist honors. He was the lone player to finish under par, totaling a 213 (-3).

CSUN's Eirik Thomassen and Cal State Fullerton's Harry Doig tied for second place with an even par 216, just a single stroke in front of McDowell.

Only five players shot under par in Tuesday's round.

------

TRITON TIDBITS
• The Tritons (as an NCAA DII team) competed in this tournament in October of 2019. They placed ninth of 13 teams.
• It was the first outing of the season for senior Sergi Mata as well as sophomores Akira Isayama and Davis Lee. All three played as individuals.
• This was the third tourney of the season for UC San Diego and the first time any Tritons have played as individuals.
• It was the 25th running of the tournament and the first to be held away from Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.
• There were seven Big West Conference teams in contention: Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawaii, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.
• The last Big West team to win the tournament prior to this year was UC Santa Barbara, which did so in 2016.

------

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.