No. 23 men’s golf finished the first round of the 79th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club tied for fifth place with Pepperdine at 2-under par, according to an Apr. 13 announcement.
The opening day results highlight a close competition among the top teams, with only two strokes separating each of the top five squads. Cal led after the first round at 7-under par, followed by UNLV in second place at 6-under, Stanford in third at 4-under, and Arizona in fourth with a score of 3-under par.
Director of Golf Todd Miller said, “We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but really did a great job of hanging in there even when things got really tough on the back nine. In the last seven holes, it started really blowing, and it was easy to miss it in some bad spots. Even when we got out of position, we figured out how to make a bogey, which is really important at Pasatiempo.” Miller added later: “I’m really happy with the way the guys competed today and the decisions they made. This is the trickiest course we will play all year. Focus tomorrow is to continue and have great energy and be proactive.”
Freshman Kihei Akina ended his day tied for fifth individually after shooting a three-under-par round that included seven birdies between holes three and sixteen despite challenging wind conditions late in his round. Akina said, “We played well. Simon and I both fed off of each other which was nice. It got kind of tough there at the end. It got really windy coming in those last few holes. It’s my first time here, so I feel like I did a good job of controlling my ball around here.” Simon Kwon and Peter Kim each shot one under par for shares of twentieth place; Kwon had only one bogey while Kim recorded an eagle on hole nine.
Other Cougars included Tyson Shelley who finished one over par (tied for thirty-sixth), while Jackson Mauss and Angus Klintworth posted two-over-par rounds (tied for forty-fourth). The team now looks ahead to Tuesday’s second round beginning at 10:12 a.m., with coverage starting on Golf Channel later that evening.
