CARLSBAD, Calif. - The second annual UC San Diego Invitational got underway Monday at La Costa and the Tritons' men's golf team is atop the standings as is redshirt freshman Davis McDowell.

After two rounds of play, UC San Diego leads the 14-team field while McDowell is eight strokes under par and ahead of the remaining 88 players heading into Tuesday's third and final round.

There are six Big West Conference teams in contention including CSUN, Hawaii, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.  

Play gets underway at 9 a.m. Tuesday on La Costa's Champions Course. Fans are welcome to attend the tournament and there is no charge for entry. 

If you can't make it to the course, all action can be followed with live scoring.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons posted their best two rounds of the season Monday, firing a 279 and a 280 for a 559, 17 under par on the par 72, 7,151-yard layout. They lead second-place Sacramento State by six strokes and third-place Weber State and Utah State by 12 strokes.

McDowell carded rounds of 69 and 67 for a 136 (-8). He leads Brody Childs of Weber State by a single stroke. In total, 25 golfers are under par after 36 holes.

Also in the top-10 for UC San Diego is true freshman Francis Catalano. He shot rounds of 68 and 72 for a 4-under 140. Catalano's first round featured a hole-in-one on the par 3, 244-yard 12th. It was his first as a Triton and the fourth of his golfing career.

UC San Diego was fire on par 3 holes, finishing with a -6 and a 2.85 stroke average, the best of any squad. In fact, the Tritons were the lone team to finish under par on the shorter holes. They were second on par 4 holes (+6, 4.06) and par 5 holes (-12, 4.70) and tied for second with 111 pars and 39 birdies.

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TRITON RESULTS
1. Davis McDowell, -8 (69-67--136)
T6. Francis Catalano, -4 (68-72--140)
T15. Ryan Vaughan, -2 (71-71--142)
T20. Elliot Bunyaviroch, -1 (73-70--143)
T39. Jared Gross, +3 (71-76--147)
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T39. Jerry Wu, +3 (74-73--147) (playing as an individual)
T43. Ethan Chen, +4 (74-74--148) (playing as an individual)
T63. Sergi Mata, +9 (77-76--153) (playing as an individual)
T66. Alex Hanz, +10 (75-79--154) (playing as an individual)
T66. Davis Lee, +10 (75-79--154) (playing as an individual)
76. Akira Isayama, +12 (80-76--156) (playing as an individual)

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TEAM RESULTS
1. UC San Diego, -17
2. Sacramento State, -11
T3. Weber State, -5
T3. Utah State, -5
5. UC Irvine, -2
T6. CSUN, -1
T6. UC Santa Barbara, -1
8. Yale, +1
9. Dixie State, +10
10. Hawaii, +14
11. UC Riverside, +16
12. Florida A&M, +18
13. Prairie View A&M, +26
14. Chapman, +47

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UC SAN DIEGO INVITATIONAL HISTORY
March 22-23, 2021 | La Costa (Champions Course)
• Team Champion: Utah State, +29 (299-294-300--893)
• Individual Medalist: Liam Koeneke, San Diego State, +2 (70-73-75--218)
• Complete Results

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UP NEXT
Following the UC San Diego Invitational, the Tritons travel to Washington State to compete at Seattle University's Redhawk Invitational, which takes place April 4-5 at Chambers Bay. 

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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 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.