California men’s golf is in fifth place at the Western Intercollegiate after two rounds of play. The Golden Bears shot a combined 260 (+10) strokes on Tuesday and they are just 11 strokes back of Pepperdine who leads the field.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf said. “They’ve stayed mentally tough, patient and have given us a chance to do something special tomorrow. [Pasatiempo] is such a tricky golf course. You have to be sharp from the first hole to the 18th green…I’m proud of them for being as precise as possible.”
After entering the second round tied for first, Finigan Tilly is now tied for ninth (140, E) after shooting a 73 (+3) on Tuesday. The senior produced three birdies on the sixth, ninth and 13th holes, but a double bogey on 14 put him two over par. Three strokes back of Tilly are both Sampson Zheng and Aaron Du whose overall score of 143 (+3) puts them in a tie for 18th. Zheng shot a 72 (+2) in the second round and recorded his second eagle of the tournament on hole nine. He is one of just four players with two eagles thus far. Meanwhile, Du improved three strokes over his first round score of 73, to finish round two with 70 (E) strokes. The freshman tallied three birdies and dropped to as a low as three below par before bogeying his final three holes to finish even. Costas Panay (145, +5) and James Song (148, +8) are currently the Bears’ final two scorers, sitting in a tie for 33rd and 51st respectively.
As a team, Cal still dominates the tournament on par 5s with an average score of 4.36. Combined, the Bears are seven strokes ahead of the next best team in that category (BYU). Tilly’s 3.83 on such holes is tied for first while Zheng and Panay are tied for third with a score of 4.17. With 35 birdies, the Bears are in second place in the 13-team field and in third with three eagles.
Cal will return to Pasatiempo Golf Course on Wednesday where they will look to gain some ground in the final round of the Western Intercollegiate. Live stats will be available here. The event will also be broadcast on Golf Channel live from 1pm-4pm PT.