FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The UC San Diego men's golf team improved its placing by three positions and freshman
Jerry Zhu finished 24th as the Ram Masters Invitational wrapped up Friday.
It was the season-opening event for the Tritons, who were making their fourth appearance at the Ram Masters Invitational as an NCAA Division I team.
Colorado State hosted the 16-team tournament at Fort Collins Country Club.
Following Thursday's first two rounds, UC San Diego sat in 14th place, shooting, 15-over par and 13-over par. The team rebounded in Friday's third and final round, shooting five over par to climb three rungs on the leaderboard.
Playing in his first collegiate event, Zhu shot 73-70-73 to finish 6-over par on the par-70 7,234-yard layout. He collected 14 birdies with five in both the first and third rounds to go along with four in the second frame.
Sophomores
Hanjie Yu and
Ethan Lien, two of UC San Diego's four returning Tritons from last season, tied for 47th. Senior
Justin Gill, another returner, tied for 59th. Playing in his first ever college event, freshman
Cole Kim tied for 69th place.
The top three teams were San Francisco (+9) in first with Cal State Fullerton (+12) and Utah Tech tying for third.
The individual champion was Nils Svanberg from San Francisco. He finished 8-under, four strokes better than his closest competitor.
Just four golfers finished below par over the 54 holes.
TRITON RESULTS
tie-24.
Jerry Zhu, freshman (+6, 73-70-73--216)
tie-47.
Ethan Lien, sophomore (+10, 74-75-71--220)
tie-47.
Hanjie Yu, sophomore (+10, 78-72-70--220)
tie-59.
Justin Gill, Senior (+12, 75-76-71--222)
tie-69.
Cole Kim, freshman (+14, 73-76-75--224)
WHAT HEAD COACH FRED HANOVER HAD TO SAY
"I knew going into the season that we were likely going to start slow as we had to replace five seniors. After this tournament, I'm very optimistic that this team going to develop and contend in some later events.
Jerry Zhu played very well most of the event.
Cole Kim suffered some real bad breaks and handled them well.
Ethan Lien,
Justin Gill, and Thomas Yu all had some really good play at times. As the season goes on I know all five of them are going to develop into strong players and I am very excited and looking forward to seeing that happen."
UP NEXT
The Tritons head to another familiar tournament next week as the Falcon Invitational is on tap. Air Force is hosting the event September 19-21 at Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs.
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.
