18 holes into the Cabo Collegiate, California men’s golf is in ninth place, led by freshman Sampson Zheng whose 73 (+1) has him tied for eighth.
On a cold day with gusts of wind between 20-30mph, Zheng’s day was highlighted by an ace on the 16th-hole which was the only hole-in-one in the first round. The Nagoya, Japan native also had two birdies on holes two and 14. Furthermore, Zheng’s average score of 2.50 on par 3s is tied for the lowest in the 88-person field. Senior Finigan Tilly finished the first round one stroke behind Zheng (74, +2) and is currently tied for 14th. Starting on the tenth hole, Tilly birdied two of his first three holes and tallied 12 pars including a streak of 10 in a row. Redshirt junior Kyle Maspat has the Bears’ third lowest score on day one, shooting a 77 (+5) and is tied for 39th while junior James Song is tied for 49th with a score of 78 (+6).
As a team, the Bears finished the opening round with 302 (+20) strokes and they currently have the fourth-best combined score on par 3s (3.25).
Cal will return to action on Tuesday morning for the second round of the Cabo Collegiate. Freshman Aaron Du will be the first Bear to tee off, beginning at 6am PT. Live stats can be found here.
To follow Cal men’s golf this season, visit calbears.com, or follow the team on Twitter, and Instagram.