LA JOLLA, Calif. - Throwing down its best round of the tournament Tuesday, the UC San Diego Golf Team propelled itself to a ninth-place finish among 20 squads at its own UC San Diego Invitational.
For the first time, the event was contested on the renowned South Course at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.
The Tritons shot a 290 in today's final round to finish 45-over. They opened the tournament Sunday with a 306 and followed with a 313 in Monday's second round. Today's score was tied for the third-best team total of the round.
UC San Diego was sixth heading into the second round and 13th going into today's closer.
Junior
Francis Catalano was the top Triton, shooting 8-over to tie for 14th. Catalano had back-to-back 77's Sunday and Monday before lopping off seven strokes with a 2-under 70 today.
New Mexico State, ranked 64th nationally, shot five-under Tuesday and finished at +21 to top the field. Arkansas State (+23), also ranked among the nation's top 100 at 88, finished second and UC Irvine (+27) was third.
The individual medal winner was Thomas Schmidt from Arkansas State. The lone player in the field to finish below par, he fired rounds of 71, 68, and 72 to go five-under.
The 20 teams were a new record for the event. There were five Big West schools competing - CSUN, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego.
Founded in 2001, the first two UC San Diego Invitationals were held on the Champions Course at La Costa in Carlsbad. In 2023 and 2024 the tourney was on the North Course at Torrey Pines.
TRITON FINISHES
tie-14:
Francis Catalano, +8 (77-77-70)
tie-33:
Kyle Dougherty, +12 (79-78-71)
tie-33:
Akira Isayama, +12 (74-80-74)
tie-45.
Justin Gill, +13 (73-78-78)*
tie-65:
Leo Cheng, +16 (79-77-76)*
tie-69:
Calvin Kong, +17 (76-78-79)
tie-82:
Nathan Tseng, +21 (81-81-75)
tie-89:
Eli Geddy, +22 (77-79-82)*
tie-93:
Adriel Abaoag, +23 (79-82-78)*
* competing as an individual and did not factor in team score
WHAT FRED SAID
"This year's tournament at Torrey Pines was our best one yet. A U.S. Open course, a strong field, and good weather made for a great three days. Only one player broke par for the event which meant the course played very difficult. The top two teams in the field were New Mexico State and Arkansas State, both ranked in the top 100 in the nation. UC San Diego struggled in rounds one and two but played well in round three to finish ninth.
Justin Gill had a great round one with a 73, while
Francis Catalano and
Kyle Dougherty both broke par in round three with a 70 and 71, respectively. I am hoping that our final round rally carries over to our next event in Washington State next week. It would be great to gather some momentum in the next few events before our first Big West Championship at the end of April." -
UC San Diego head coach Fred Hanover
VENUE
Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course)
11480 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037
Par: 72
Yardage: 7802
Rating/Slope: 78.2/144
Scorecard
COMPETING TEAMS (20)
(Scoreboard rankings as of 3/19)
#64 New Mexico State
#88 Arkansas State
#135 North Dakota State
#139 Sacramento State
#141 UC Irvine
#143 Seattle
#147 Utah State
#152 George Mason
#159 UC San Diego
#164 Gonzaga
#173 UC Riverside
#198 California Baptist
#199 DePaul
#223 Houston Christian
#226 CSUN
#244 Air Force
#254 Lehigh
#258 Bucknell
#292 Prairie View A&M
#7 Oklahoma Christian (NCAA Division 2)
PREVIOUS UC SAN DIEGO INVITATIONAL RESULTS
|
Year
|
Venue
|
Team Winner
|
Individual Medalist(s)
|
Full Results
|
|
2024
|
Torrey Pines (North)
|
North Dakota State (857/-7)
|
Jack Johnson/North Dakota State (208/-8)
|
Results
|
|
2023
|
Torrey Pines (North)
|
Oklahoma Christian (832/-32)
|
Eirik Thomassen/CSUN (196/-20)
|
Results
|
|
2022
|
La Costa (Champions)
|
Sacramento State (854/-10)
|
Justin Hastings/San Diego State (207/-9)
|
Results
|
|
2021
|
La Costa (Champions)
|
Utah State (898/+29)
|
Colton Cordingly/Utah State
Liam Koeneke/San Diego State (218/+2)
|
Results
|
UP NEXT
UC San Diego travels to the familiar Redhawk Invitational March 31 and April 1. Hosted by Seattle University, the tournament's home course is Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. It will be the fourth-straight season that UC San Diego has traveled to the event.
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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.
