Photo credit: Brandon Vallance
The California men’s golf team will play in its third competition within the past two weeks on Monday and Tuesday as it hosts the 18th annual Alister Mackenzie Invitational at Sonoma Golf Club.
Cal has played in the Big Match (Sept. 29) and the prestigious Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where it tied for ninth, in the past 11 days.
The Golden Bears will look to gain momentum at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational, a tournament they’ve had plenty of previous success at. Cal has won or shared the team title 11 times in the 17 years the tournament has been played since its inception in 2002. The event has not been played since 2019 due to a COVID-19-induced hiatus and was also not played in 2008. It will be the second time the event takes place at Sonoma Golf Club (2013), as it has primarily been hosted by Meadow Club in Fairfax.
The nine participating teams will play 36 holes of the two-day, 54-hole event on Monday with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT. Tuesday’s third-round pairings will be determined by results following two rounds of play. Live scoring will be provided via Golfstat.com.
TOURNAMENT INFO
- Dates: Oct. 10-11 (Monday-Tuesday)
- Format: Monday: 36 holes, shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT | Tuesday: 18 holes, 8 a.m. start at holes 1 and 10
- Location: Sonoma Golf Club (Sonoma, California)
- Course Info: Par 72, 7,082 Yards
- Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
OFF THE TEE
1. Sampson Zheng
2. Aaron Du
3. Tony Chen
4. Nathan Wang
5. Ethan Chung
Ind. (4): Jeewon Park, Costas Panay, Simon Kwon, Daniel Heo
Cal (host), Dartmouth, Drexel, Harvard, Long Beach State, Minnesota, San José State, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara
GOLDEN BEAR LINEUP
1 – Sampson Zheng (Jr., Nagoya, Japan)
Two top-20 individual finishes this season … Averaging 71.16 strokes per round in 2021-22 … Carded a 4-under 206 (68-70-68) & tied for 13th at the Fighting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) … Grabbed a share of 18th place at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) with a 5-over 221 (75-73-73) … Birdied on the 18th hole to secure a 1-up victory alongside Jieming Yang in the Big Match vs. Stanford (Sept. 29) … 2021-11 All-Pac-12 Team honorable mention … Career scoring average of 72.41 in 47 rounds played.
2 – Aaron Du (Jr., Beijing, China)
Bounced back from a difficult first round to tie for 22nd at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) with a 6-over 222 (79-70-73) … Tied for 37th (+2, 212) at the Fighting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) … Handily won his match in the Big Match vs. Stanford (2&1) … Two-time All-Pac-12 Team honorable mention (2021, ‘22) … Career scoring average of 72.42 in 50 rounds … Led Cal with a 72.33 stroke average in the 2021-22 season … Won individual medalist honors at the 2022 John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Hawaii.
3 – Tony Chen (R-So., Shenzhen, China)
Tied for 47th (80-74-79 – 233, +17) in his 2022-23 season stroke-play debut at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) … Played in the Big Match vs. Stanford on Sept. 29, losing 4&2 alongside Mika Jin … Owns a 73.67 career stroke average in 31 rounds.
4 – Nathan Wang (Fr., Fremont, California)
Played in his first collegiate stroke-play event at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, tying for 47th (76-79-78 – 233, +17) … Made his Cal debut on Sept. 29 in the Big Match against Stanford; lost his match (5&4) alongside the Golden Bear women’s Annika Borrelli.
5 – Ethan Chung (R-So., Eastvale, California)
Cracked Cal’s lineup for the season-opening Fighting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) & tied for 60th (+8. 71-74-73 – 218) … Competed in nine tournaments (28 rounds) and averaged 73 strokes per round in his first season with the Golden Bears in 2021-22 after transferring from USC … Career scoring average of 72.96.