COTO de CAZA, Calif. - Playing in its first ever tournament as an NCAA Division I squad, the University of California San Diego men's golf team placed seventh Tuesday at the Orange County Collegiate Classic, co-hosted by UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton on Coto de Caza's South Course.

The Tritons, who were competing for the first time since March of 2020, finished with a 54 hole total of 938. They carded a 306 (+18) in the opening round, a 318 (+30) in round two, and a 314 (+26) in the final round.

UC San Diego's lineup featured four freshmen - Davis Lee, Jerry Wu, Alex Hanz, and Akira Isayama - as well as junior Jared Gross. Senior Ryan Vaughan played as an individual and did not figure in the team scoring.

Wu was the top finisher for the Tritons, tying for 26th with a 230 (+14). He fired rounds of 76, 77, and 77 in his first collegiate outing. Isayama (75-82-74--231, +15) placed 29th, Hanz (77-82-82--241, +25) tied for 39th, Lee (80-81-81--242, +26) was 41st, and Gross (78-78-90--246, +30) was 43rd. Vaughan (86-83-81--250, +34) finished 45th.

Isayama moved up seven spots on the leader board as he was tied for 36th after two rounds. His 74 in the third round was the best single round by any Triton over two days of play. Gross holed 10 birdies, tied for the ninth most in the 47-player field, while Hanz collected 33 pars, which tied for the 11th most.

Also competing in the tournament were Cal Poly (Big West), Cal State Fullerton (Big West), California Baptist, Grand Canyon, UC Irvine (Big West), and the University of San Francisco.

San Francisco led wire to wire and won the team title for the second straight year with an even par 864, 12 strokes in front of second place Cal State Fullerton. USF's Alex Chin was the individual medalist with a 3-under 213. He shot rounds of 72, 71, and 70. It was a tight top three as USF's Soren Lind was second at -2 and CSUF's Garrett Boe was third at -1.

The par-72, 6,950 yard South Course played to a 76.45 stroke average.

Before Monday, UC San Diego had last competed on March 3, 2020, at the Las Vegas Desert Classic. The NCAA then canceled all of its remaining championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tritons had to forgo the remaining four tournaments of their regular season, including their own SoCal Intercollegiate and the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships.

FROM COACH FRED HANOVER
"Our attitude coming in to the tournament was one of excitement and uncertainty as we had an entirely different team from last year. I got to see all six guys play for an extended amount of time, so I now know what they need to work on to become champions. We weren't prepared for the challenge of that particular course. It was very difficult and I think the guys were surprised by that." 

TRITON TIDBITS
• The tournament was UC San Diego's first as an NCAA Division I team.
• Monday was the first team the Tritons had competed since March of 2020.
• Four freshmen - Alex Hanz, Akira Isayama, Davis Lee, Jerry Wu - were playing for the first time at the collegiate level.
• As a Division II team in 2020, UC San Diego tied for 10th of 17 teams at the Orange County Collegiate Classic. Fifteen of the 17 teams competing were from the NCAA Division I ranks.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will take part in The Joust, hosted by California Baptist at Goose Creek in Riverside. The tournament is slated for Feb. 22-23.  

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 III and II and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 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.